Revised Convention Center Hotel Plan Moves Forward

PALMETTO – A long-promised hotel next to the Bradenton Area Convention Center could finally come to fruition next year. On Monday, the Palmetto City Commission voted to approve a first reading with some changes to the project's general development plan.

The $60 million project has been plagued by delays that included its brand–Sheraton–being bought by Marriott as part of its Starwood Hotels & Resorts acquisition. The shuffle forced the developer, Anthony DeRusso, to start over on designs in order to meet the new parent company's criteria.

The acquisition in September of a long-sought piece of adjacent property was also a key turning point. A land deal for the 12.5-acre site had previously fallen through. The land acquisition made a land swap with the county that had complicated a previous plan unnecessary. DeRusso told the board he now believes he will be able to break ground by spring.

The hotel will be eight stories high and have 251 rooms. Like most recent or planned hotels in the Sarasota/Bradenton area, there will also be a rooftop lounge and restaurant. The property is divided into three parcels. One is planned for 7,500 square feet of restaurants, retail or office space. A third parcel could eventually hold a second, smaller hotel.

DeRusso will include a covered walkway from the hotel to the convention center and extend 7th Street West to Haben Boulevard. The most significant change was that 20,000 square feet of event space will be reduced to 7,000.

While the original plan was to name the hotel with Bradenton or "Bradenton area" in it to coincide with the convention center, many in Palmetto are still sore following the 2012 renaming of the Manatee County Convention Center to the Bradenton Area Convention Center. With the county out of the deal, DeRusso agreed to a request by the commission to remove any such reference, though the naming will ultimately be done by Marriott.