New 4-story hotel planned on State Road 70 near Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch

James A. Jones Jr.
·2 min read

An Atlanta-based company with a track record of development in Manatee County wants to build a new four-story hotel at the corner of State Road 70 and Lockwood Ridge Road.

GH&G Lockwood, LLC recently filed paperwork with Manatee County Development Services to build a 53,877-square-foot hotel with parking at 4660 53rd Ave. E.

Hotels in that area are in demand as the Bradenton area has been growing as a sports tourism destination with events and tournaments at Premier Sports Campus, Sarasota Polo Club, Nathan Benderson Park and IMG Academy.

Premier SuperCopa — an invitation-only soccer tournament for talented youth soccer players in North America — is projected to bring more than 17,000 athletes, coaches, family members and spectators to Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch this weekend, June 15-18.

That comes on the heels of last weekend’s Youth National Rowing Championships at Nathan Benderson Park, which had over 4,000 athletes taking part.

Site of former Winn-Dixie, West Lakes Plaza

In 2014, GH&G Lockwood acquired a 26.5 acre parcel on the southeast corner of State Road 70 and Lockwood Ridge Road from Space Coast Credit Union.

The site included a former 62,000-square-foot Winn-Dixie, since demolished, and the failed West Lakes Plaza Community Shopping Center, according to Bradenton Herald archives.

GH&G Lockwood bought it for $6.5 million from Space Coast, which had acquired the land in 2013 for $5.11 million as part of a bank seizure.

GH&G Lockwood then sold 5.8 acres of the West Lake Plaza development to 144 Bradenton LLC of Miami for $5.9 million, which in turn leased part of the property to Wamart, which now has a Neighborhood Market store there.

Wawa also signed a 20-year lease on two acres of the property, and GH&G sold another portion to a car wash company for $1 million, according to Herald archives.

The principals of GH&G Lockwood are William E. Gryboski of Atlanta and Daniel Howe of Holmes Beach, according to records filed with the Florida Division of Corporations.

GH&G also sold a completed Wawa store in downtown Bradenton in 2015 for $4.01 million, the Bradenton Herald previously reported.



An Atlanta-based company with a track record of development in Manatee County proposes to build a new four-story hotel at 4660 53rd Ave. E.
An Atlanta-based company with a track record of development in Manatee County proposes to build a new four-story hotel at 4660 53rd Ave. E.