New sporting goods store under construction in Bradenton. It’s coming together quickly
A popular store for sporting goods and outdoor gear is coming to Bradenton and it will be the first in the Manatee-Sarasota area.
Construction has begun on a 62,966-square-foot Academy Sports + Outdoors store in the Marketplace at Heritage Harbour shopping center on the northeast corner of the State Road 64 and Interstate 75 intersection.
“We offer a broad assortment of quality hunting, fishing, and camping equipment and gear, along with sports and leisure products, footwear, apparel and much more,” the company says.
Academy Sports + Outdoors has 16 stores in Florida. The closest to Bradenton is in Pinellas Park.
An opening date for the store has not been announced. This week, the developer submitted a main exterior sign request to Manatee County Development Services for the Academy building at 7105 Lighthouse Drive.
Academy Sports + Outdoors did not immediately respond to a request for more information this week, but the Katy, Texas-based company web page says that it has 284 stores and counting.
Academy Sports under construction in Bradenton
The new sporting goods store is coming together quickly thanks to the use of tilt wall construction, which uses concrete panels that are tilted up to form the exterior wall.
The massive new building markedly changes the looks of the shopping center, which currently has only two open businesses, Costco and Miller’s Ale House. But lots more retail is on the way.
Academy will also be neighbors with Hobby Lobby, which has signed a lease for a 55,000-square-foot store.
Also confirmed for the shopping center:
▪ Target
In addition, a 124-room hotel is planned a few blocks away on the grounds of the Stoneybrook Golf Course. The golf course was designed by the late Arthur Hills.
The Marketplace at Heritage Harbour is being developed by Edgewood Properties of Piscataway, New Jersey.
