In the Northern side of Manatee County, just across the Manatee River from Bradenton sits Palmetto. It is the smallest of all the cities in the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota Metropolitan Area, by both land area and population, but it is also the oldest, officially incorporated into the city of Palmetto in 1897. Although Palmetto officially became a city 128 years ago, 2025 may be the biggest year for the burgeoning municipality yet. In the summer of 2024, the Palmetto Marriott Resort and Spa, replete with 252-guest rooms, opened its doors. The Palmetto Marriott, the area’s largest luxury hotel with 10,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, is connected to the Bradenton Area Convention Center—currently in the midst of a $54 million capital improvement project.  “We’re excited about the partnership and connectivity with the convention center,” says Marriott Managing Partner Tony DeRusso. “The convention center has been missing two components for all of these years. Number one, a headquarter hotel and number two, a large ballroom to be able to accommodate larger events. With their 14,000 square foot ballroom, our 8,000 square foot ballroom, our breakout meeting space and their breakout meeting space, the almost 40,000 square foot exhibit hall and tons of outdoor flex space, we're going to be able to offer an accommodation that nobody has on the West coast of Florida, south of Tampa, all the way to Naples.” The renovation and expansion of the Bradenton Area Convention Center is paramount to redeveloping the urban core of Palmetto, according to Elliot Falcione, Director of the Bradenton Area Tourism Bureau. The vastly improved Center, which is targeting a ribbon-cutting ceremony in November and is taking bookings for 2026, is estimated to bring in $30-40 million annually to the surrounding area. “The Marriott is the headquarter hotel that is required when you’re trying to woo out of town businesses,” says Falcione. “We needed to be connected to the Marriott by air-conditioning to remain competitive in this market.” Falcione hopes that the Center, funded entirely by tourism tax dollars, will be an economic driver for the entire Palmetto-Bradenton region, especially outside of the typical tourism season. “You need that asset to push revenue into that urban core during the non-peak season. Conventions and conferences typically come during the late spring, throughout the summer and early fall—redeveloping the convention center is planting a seed in this economy for years to come,” says Falcione.