Loading
The past few months have brought good news for Manatee County hotel developers and hospitality officials.
For one, Manatee County commissioners approved a project that at least in theory and desire goes back more than a decade: a full-service hotel next to the Bradenton Area Convention Center in northeast Manatee County.
The proposal, from Fort Worth, Texas-based Improvement Network Development Partners LLC, calls for a 250-room, six-story hotel that will be managed by Starwood Resorts, likely with a Sheraton flag. Plans for the 204,150-square-foot hotel include an 8,000-square-foot ballroom and nearly 10,000 square feet of other meeting room space, in addition to a 240-seat restaurant.
Improvement Network Development Partners, through its parent company, S. Goodman and Associates, signed a hotel land lease agreement with Manatee County to move forward with the project. The agreement is made in conjunction with the city of Palmetto, where the land is located, and the Palmetto Community Redevelopment Agency.
The agreement states that the cost estimates for the project are “to be not less than $255,000 per room,” so the project, in total, could be at least $63.75 million. S. Goodman and Associates, according to county documents, proposed a capital plan that was roughly 26% equity, 54% debt and the remaining 20% from Community Redevelopment Agency incentives.
Manatee County tourism officials have long lamented lost business opportunities for meetings and conventions because the convention center doesn't have a nearby full-service hotel. “A convention center hotel will no doubt enhance the urban core redevelopment plans by helping bring in conferences to our beautiful community,” Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Elliott Falcione says in a statement.
In an unrelated announcement that came with less fanfare, officials at sports training facility IMG Academy in Bradenton say they also intend to build a hotel, on its fast-growing campus. IMG Academy Co-managing Director Chip McCarthy says that, much like in Palmetto with the convention center, the campus has needed a hotel for years.
The IMG Academy hotel, says McCarthy, will be a 150-room, four-star, boutique-style property, without a brand name flag. It will be open to students, athletes and the public. The hotel will also specialize in hosting professional and college sports teams that use IMG for weeklong practice camps throughout the year. Construction is scheduled to begin on the hotel in the first quarter next year, and it could be completed by the second quarter of 2018.
“We had issues not having enough hotel rooms in the past,” McCarthy tells Coffee Talk. “This will be a great offering.”
Your free article limit has been reached this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited digital access to our award-winning business news.
Join thousands of executives who rely on us for insights spanning Tampa Bay to Naples.
