Manteca is working to make sure that when the next economic wave sweeps through the Northern San Joaquin Valley that the city and residents can ride it for all its worth.
Even as city staff and municipal leaders work to close the remaining gap in the $11.9 million deficit projected for the fiscal year starting July 1, they are stepping up efforts to help move projects forward that will be major job and tax generators.
Topping the list is Center Point.
“There is big money ready to go on Center Point,” Mayor Willie Weatherford said.
Centre Point is now moving through the preliminary planning process with 4.2 million square feet of distribution-style buildings in six structures on 226 acres bounded by Lathrop Road on the north, Louise Avenue on the south Airport Way in the east, and the railroad on the west.
It is somewhat north of the Manteca Unified district office complex and school farm.
Developers are preparing to do a traffic study for the complex that includes 980 parking spaces for truck trailers and 769 loading dock doors.
It would be large enough to accommodate the square footage of eight Ford auto parts distribution centers like the one located in Spreckels Park or 53 Manteca Wal-Mart stores.
There are other projects in the planning process that are being pursued by the private sector including the 1,050-acre Austin Road Business Park. In all cases, the developers are picking up the tab for state required reports and studies while the city is making processing them a top priority.
“They (the projects) don’t just mean new taxes but also jobs for Manteca,” Weatherford said.
The mayor believes the city has an excellent opportunity to position itself for not just distribution center and other business park style growth as the economy improves but also more retail growth.
The mayor noted creating private sector jobs is a high priority for the council given Manteca’s 13.6 percent unemployment rate.
What makes the Center Point project unique is that it is a being designed as a true intermodal distribution center. That means every building would have rail service.
The location is especially advantageous for two reasons.
First it is just a few hundred yards from the southeast edge of the Union Pacific intermodal operation and with 10 miles of the Santa Fe intermodal operation that puts truck trailers on and off railroad flat bed cars for long distance transportation. The plus of having the two intermodal railroad operations nearby — one a four minute drive, if that — and the other 15 minutes away means whatever companies locate there have the capability of moving goods to and from virtually every major market west of the Mississippi River in a time efficient manner.
Manteca is also at the heart of the third largest market — 17 million consumers — within a 100-mile radius behind New York-Long Island and Los Angeles. It is what attracted Bass Pro Shops to Manteca. That means trucks can travel to and from the distribution center to stores serving 17 million consumers easily within an eight-hour workday.
The site is virtually smack dab at the midway point Highway 99 and Interstate 5 accessed by Lathrop Road. It is also connected to the Highway 120 Bypass directly via Airport Way, which also provides access to Stockton Metro Airport.
If the distribution center materializes, it will be one of a kind in terms of location and size in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.
The site still has to be annexed to the City of Manteca. It is within Manteca’s sphere of influence and is contiguous to the city limits.
The annexation process is separate from one that would take the Manteca Unified School District office complex and school farm immediately to the south into the City of Manteca.
It is also further along in the process than the 1,050-acre Austin Road Business Park. It abuts Woodward Avenue and Highway 99 to the north, an imaginary line if Highway 99 ran due south at the interchange with the 120 Bypass instead of angling off to the southeast, and future Ripon city limits on the south as well as the east.
It would have 3.5 million square feet of general commercial or about four times the amount of square footage as The Promenade Shops at Orchard Valley that is now under construction. It would also have 8 million square feet of industrial, business park, and office use plus 3,400 homes. This is also where the proposed Manteca Convention & Visitors Bureau events center and 5,000-seat amphitheater is proposed.
The industrial uses would generate between 3,000 and 6,000 jobs while the retail portion could yield up to 7,000 jobs.
The homes could accommodate up to 10,200 residents are just under a sixth of the city’s current population.
Even as city staff and municipal leaders work to close the remaining gap in the $11.9 million deficit projected for the fiscal year starting July 1, they are stepping up efforts to help move projects forward that will be major job and tax generators.
Topping the list is Center Point.
“There is big money ready to go on Center Point,” Mayor Willie Weatherford said.
Centre Point is now moving through the preliminary planning process with 4.2 million square feet of distribution-style buildings in six structures on 226 acres bounded by Lathrop Road on the north, Louise Avenue on the south Airport Way in the east, and the railroad on the west.
It is somewhat north of the Manteca Unified district office complex and school farm.
Developers are preparing to do a traffic study for the complex that includes 980 parking spaces for truck trailers and 769 loading dock doors.
It would be large enough to accommodate the square footage of eight Ford auto parts distribution centers like the one located in Spreckels Park or 53 Manteca Wal-Mart stores.
There are other projects in the planning process that are being pursued by the private sector including the 1,050-acre Austin Road Business Park. In all cases, the developers are picking up the tab for state required reports and studies while the city is making processing them a top priority.
“They (the projects) don’t just mean new taxes but also jobs for Manteca,” Weatherford said.
The mayor believes the city has an excellent opportunity to position itself for not just distribution center and other business park style growth as the economy improves but also more retail growth.
The mayor noted creating private sector jobs is a high priority for the council given Manteca’s 13.6 percent unemployment rate.
What makes the Center Point project unique is that it is a being designed as a true intermodal distribution center. That means every building would have rail service.
The location is especially advantageous for two reasons.
First it is just a few hundred yards from the southeast edge of the Union Pacific intermodal operation and with 10 miles of the Santa Fe intermodal operation that puts truck trailers on and off railroad flat bed cars for long distance transportation. The plus of having the two intermodal railroad operations nearby — one a four minute drive, if that — and the other 15 minutes away means whatever companies locate there have the capability of moving goods to and from virtually every major market west of the Mississippi River in a time efficient manner.
Manteca is also at the heart of the third largest market — 17 million consumers — within a 100-mile radius behind New York-Long Island and Los Angeles. It is what attracted Bass Pro Shops to Manteca. That means trucks can travel to and from the distribution center to stores serving 17 million consumers easily within an eight-hour workday.
The site is virtually smack dab at the midway point Highway 99 and Interstate 5 accessed by Lathrop Road. It is also connected to the Highway 120 Bypass directly via Airport Way, which also provides access to Stockton Metro Airport.
If the distribution center materializes, it will be one of a kind in terms of location and size in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.
The site still has to be annexed to the City of Manteca. It is within Manteca’s sphere of influence and is contiguous to the city limits.
The annexation process is separate from one that would take the Manteca Unified School District office complex and school farm immediately to the south into the City of Manteca.
It is also further along in the process than the 1,050-acre Austin Road Business Park. It abuts Woodward Avenue and Highway 99 to the north, an imaginary line if Highway 99 ran due south at the interchange with the 120 Bypass instead of angling off to the southeast, and future Ripon city limits on the south as well as the east.
It would have 3.5 million square feet of general commercial or about four times the amount of square footage as The Promenade Shops at Orchard Valley that is now under construction. It would also have 8 million square feet of industrial, business park, and office use plus 3,400 homes. This is also where the proposed Manteca Convention & Visitors Bureau events center and 5,000-seat amphitheater is proposed.
The industrial uses would generate between 3,000 and 6,000 jobs while the retail portion could yield up to 7,000 jobs.
The homes could accommodate up to 10,200 residents are just under a sixth of the city’s current population.
