Developers break ground on Lakewood Ranch hotel

Hoteliers Steve Mullen and Angus Rogers today broke ground on a new hotel in Lakewood Ranch — Hyatt Place.

“A year from now, we’ll be having our ribbon cutting,” Rogers said. 

The hotel is located at the northeast corner of Interstate 75 and University Parkway, behind the Fairfield Inn and Suites.

It will offer the same level of service as other hotels in the University Parkway/Interstate 75 corridor, but will have some additional amenities, including a lobby bar area and a bistro that offers stop-and-go lunch and dinner options, as well as a hot breakfast. It will have a pool area and cabana, as well as one 1,000-square-foot meeting room, among other amenities.

LWR Commercial Realty President Kirk Boylston said the new hotel will fill a need in the community for hotel rooms, particularly when there are sporting and other large-scale events.

“It’s a different hotel type than we have, so it fills a need,” he said. 

The hotel is expected to open to the public in February 2017.