Manteca leaders plan to show folks “the money” to get the message about why the community should embrace Great Wolf Resort back on course.
City Manager Steve Pinkerton has indicated city staff intends to “go on the road” to get the word out to groups and individuals in Manteca that Great Wolf Resort has the potential of pumping $5 million to $7 million a year into city coffers to help pay for parks, police, streets, fire protection, and other services.
“The media has gotten the wrong message out,” Pinkerton said in reference to the grumblings among some that the resort will have limited public access and instead will be for the primary use of hotel guests who pay $300 and up per night for a room in order to access the proposed 75,000-square-foot indoor water park.
Pinkerton made his comments during the mid-year assessment meeting conducted by the City Council Thursday on the second floor of the Manteca Golf Course clubhouse.
The campaign to “get the message back on target” will take place in the coming months as the city negotiates with Great Wolf Resort developers to cobble together a potential agreement to build what could ultimately be a six-story, 600-room hotel with an indoor an outdoor water park covering 110,000 square feet plus a 60,000-square-foot conference center immediately west of the Manteca Costco.
The project could ultimately represent a $200 million investment in Manteca, add 500 permanent jobs, draw 400,000 visitors annually, create 1,000 construction jobs, and cement Manteca as a legitimate tourist attraction.
The typical room at existing Great Wolf Resorts rent for $280 to $300 a night. That includes access to the water park the day of the stay as well as the day after. Since the tax is on the entire room bill - the water park can’t be broken out, a 15 percent room tax on a $300 room bill would come to $45.
That can add up in a hurry. Initial projections depending upon the percentage and room occupancy puts the take at between $4 million and $6 million annually that would flow directly to the city’s general fund.
To put that in perspective, the current room tax Manteca collects citywide is $342,000 a year and the total of all sales tax currently going to Manteca now is $7.1 million yearly.
Pinkerton noted that a traditional outdoor water park is a “nice amenity to have” but it would not generate the money to help pay for city services or create a year-round employment base like Great Wolf Resort is able to do.
“A standard water park is not a big money generator for the city,” Pinkerton said.
He added that part of the message is explaining to people how Great Wolf would serve as a magnet for other family-style entertainment ventures to locate on the nearby 100 acres the city owns.
Manteca’s goal is to turn the area with Great Wolf Resort, Big League Dreams, and the 100-acre family entertainment zone into a big Northern California regional draw.
There is expected to be some type of Manteca Redevelopment Agency involvement in the project although city officials haven’t indicated what that may be.
It could be in the form of simply putting in the infrastructure by extending water, sewer and storm lines as well as the street and lighting to access the site. It could involve some type of financial involvement in the actual construction of the resort or a combination thereof.
The RDA could also purchase the land from the city and “lease” it for a nominal dollar a year back to the resort developers.
City Manager Steve Pinkerton has indicated city staff intends to “go on the road” to get the word out to groups and individuals in Manteca that Great Wolf Resort has the potential of pumping $5 million to $7 million a year into city coffers to help pay for parks, police, streets, fire protection, and other services.
“The media has gotten the wrong message out,” Pinkerton said in reference to the grumblings among some that the resort will have limited public access and instead will be for the primary use of hotel guests who pay $300 and up per night for a room in order to access the proposed 75,000-square-foot indoor water park.
Pinkerton made his comments during the mid-year assessment meeting conducted by the City Council Thursday on the second floor of the Manteca Golf Course clubhouse.
The campaign to “get the message back on target” will take place in the coming months as the city negotiates with Great Wolf Resort developers to cobble together a potential agreement to build what could ultimately be a six-story, 600-room hotel with an indoor an outdoor water park covering 110,000 square feet plus a 60,000-square-foot conference center immediately west of the Manteca Costco.
The project could ultimately represent a $200 million investment in Manteca, add 500 permanent jobs, draw 400,000 visitors annually, create 1,000 construction jobs, and cement Manteca as a legitimate tourist attraction.
The typical room at existing Great Wolf Resorts rent for $280 to $300 a night. That includes access to the water park the day of the stay as well as the day after. Since the tax is on the entire room bill - the water park can’t be broken out, a 15 percent room tax on a $300 room bill would come to $45.
That can add up in a hurry. Initial projections depending upon the percentage and room occupancy puts the take at between $4 million and $6 million annually that would flow directly to the city’s general fund.
To put that in perspective, the current room tax Manteca collects citywide is $342,000 a year and the total of all sales tax currently going to Manteca now is $7.1 million yearly.
Pinkerton noted that a traditional outdoor water park is a “nice amenity to have” but it would not generate the money to help pay for city services or create a year-round employment base like Great Wolf Resort is able to do.
“A standard water park is not a big money generator for the city,” Pinkerton said.
He added that part of the message is explaining to people how Great Wolf would serve as a magnet for other family-style entertainment ventures to locate on the nearby 100 acres the city owns.
Manteca’s goal is to turn the area with Great Wolf Resort, Big League Dreams, and the 100-acre family entertainment zone into a big Northern California regional draw.
There is expected to be some type of Manteca Redevelopment Agency involvement in the project although city officials haven’t indicated what that may be.
It could be in the form of simply putting in the infrastructure by extending water, sewer and storm lines as well as the street and lighting to access the site. It could involve some type of financial involvement in the actual construction of the resort or a combination thereof.
The RDA could also purchase the land from the city and “lease” it for a nominal dollar a year back to the resort developers.
