Bradenton DDA holds firm on Pink Palace negotiations

Government officials aren't exactly synonymous with cutthroat negotiators when they dole out incentives to lure businesses to town.

The Bradenton Downtown Development Authority, however, recently turned that premise upside down. The DDA reached an agreement Oct. 28 with Syracuse, N.Y.-based Widewaters Group, a firm with bold ambitions to renovate an old hotel in the heart of downtown.

The city will provide Widewaters with $1 million in incentives and roughly $1.5 million in tax rebates. Widewaters, for its part, will turn the 86-year-old building, known locally as the Pink Palace, into a 115-room Hampton Inn & Suites — a $17 million project. (See Business Review, April 29.)