UMR Sports is gearing up for a major expansion of its Lakewood Ranch-area campus, with plans to add more than 200 apartments and a cluster of tournament-ready fields on roughly 52 acres off Upper Manatee River Road. The proposal pairs multi-stay housing with new softball and baseball diamonds, an adult baseball field and an artificial-turf multipurpose field aimed at weekend tournaments and longer-stay visitors. Supporters say the combination is designed to serve local recreational players while doubling as a boost for the region's sports tourism economy.
As reported by Tampa Bay Business Journal, project filings outline more than 200 apartments alongside five 12-and-under softball fields, an adult baseball diamond and a multipurpose turf field. The documents indicate that the residential units are intended to function as short- and mid-term lodging for visiting teams, families and event staff rather than as traditional long-term rentals.
UMR's own materials place the campus at 131 Upper Manatee River Road NE and describe the 52-acre site as already home to pickleball courts, beach-volleyball courts and an indoor batting training plaza. The operator's facilities page notes that additional indoor and outdoor amenities are in the works. According to UMR Sports, the broader vision is a membership-driven training academy that can also host tournaments and special events.
Scale and schedule
Local reporting shows the residential component penciled in at 232 "multi-stay" units spread across four buildings, with construction on those units expected to begin in July or August and wrap up in August or September 2027. A Phase 3 buildout that includes a five-plex of youth fields and a stadium field is slated to break ground on October 1, with a Memorial Day weekend 2027 opening circled on the calendar. Those details were reported by Your Observer. Owner Ryan Moore summed up the moment to the outlet, saying, "It finally is becoming real."
Why it matters
The Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Sports Playbook highlights the region's already-deep bench of tournament facilities, from Lakewood Ranch's Premier Sports Campus to multiple county parks. That existing roster helps explain why private operators are willing to invest in specialized event fields and on-site lodging for teams chasing multi-day tournaments.
Elliott Falcione of the county's CVB told Your Observer, "Sports tourism creates $400 million of economic impact each year in Manatee County." In other words, there is serious money riding on every traveling team that books a weekend on local fields.
Project documents and local coverage suggest there is clear momentum behind the UMR expansion, but key filings, permits and timeline specifics still require county approval before heavy construction can start. As Tampa Bay Business Journal noted, the next steps will play out in county records and through the developer's permitting process.
