If you live south of Woodward Avenue and you are hearing a lot of hammering, it is not your imagination.
New home starts surged in June — with the bulk located south of the 120 Bypass — as construction on 85 single family homes valued at $24.1 million got underway. It brings the total for new home starts in the first six months of 2017 in Manteca to 357 with a combined construction value of $101.4 million. It is important to note that does not reflect the market price that collapses in the price of land, growth fees that can run in excess of $40,000 a house, as well as other costs incurred by developers plus their profit margin. When everything is added up it represents an initial economic impact in Manteca approaching $135 million.
Without another single family home permit being issued 2017 is already the best year for new home construction in Manteca since 2007 when 414 homes were built. If the pace continues, this year could challenge the mark of 746 new homes built in 2004. That was the second highest year since the mid-1980s topped only by 1,075 new homes in 2000.
In terms of the dollar amount of construction, Manteca is on track to set a new dollar record in excess of $240 million. Overall construction is at $156.1 million through the end of June.
That compares to the record set in 2002 of $191.1 million that was powered by significant construction in the Spreckels Park Business Park and 803 new homes. The year 2002 was the second highest for housing starts in Manteca.
The 404,657-square-foot Tactical 5.11 distribution center being built near Airport Way and Roth Road in northwest Manteca is a $29.3 million construction project that is part of the six month total so far for the current year. The eclipsed the previous record of the $20 million building permit for Bass Pro Shops that — along with housing starts — in 2006 accounted for the second highest year for new construction in Manteca at $179.3 million.
CenterPoint — the developers building the structure for Tactical 5.11 — also has submitted plans for a 1,199,997-square-foot building that is being proposed in two phases on a 63.29-acre parcel. The first phase will consist of 551,475 square feet. Exeter Properties is proposing Manteca’s largest high cube distribution center yet — an 848,400-square-foot structure accessed from Louise Avenue at an existing intersection controlled by a traffic signal just west of the Manteca Unified School District office complex and school farm.
If either one of the additional business park structures break ground this year, the value of construction could soar past $270 million.
Mike Atherton and Al Boyce will add roughly $25 million to the total in the coming months when their permits for 164 apartment units on the northeast corner of Van Ryn Avenue and Atherton Drive are issued. Grading is now underway for the complex dubbed Tesoro Apartments are expected to be completed by mid-2018.

Manteca adds 3,209
new homes since 2007
The accumulative impact of the last 10½ years, starting with 2007 when the mortgage crisis started the housing collapse, shows Manteca has added 3,209 new homes. That does not include 240 workforce and low-income senior apartment units that are part of two separate subsidized complexes.
The past decade represents a string of five to six years where other jurisdictions in the Northern San Joaquin Valley had less than 100 housing starts in any given year. Manteca for five of those years had more housing starts than all other cities in San Joaquin County combined.
The fact the city has 9,000 plus lots in various stages of approval plus had already made long-range investments in its state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant plus secured surface treated water from the South San Joaquin Irrigation District that water planners indicated could support a population of 140,000 plus when combined with ground water sources is why a growing number of builders  that once dominated the Bay Area market are breaking ground here.
It also helps that land for single family production homes has become extremely scarce in the Bay Area.
River Islands at Lathrop is also situated similar to Manteca as they can build up to 11,000 plus homes once the final phases of their massive super levees are put in place.
It is likely between all builders in both Manteca and Lathrop that the two cities could add 30,000 plus housing units by 2040 to add 81,000 residents or 5,000 more people than the current 76,000 residents now living in Manteca. The City of Manteca is working on a general plan update designed to serve as a blueprint for growth expected to take the city’s urban population to 124,500 people by 2040.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com