It is not as imposing as the 500-room Great Wolf indoor water park resort.
And it’s location fits like a glove in the shadows of the Big League Dreams sports complex on the corner of a street named for Manteca’s first Major League Baseball player —Millo Candini Drive and Daniels Street.
It is the Loma Brewing Company, the first collateral benefit of the resort and sports complex that bookends more than 100 acres of city-owned land that is now arguably among the prime locations in the Northern San Joaquin Valley for Internet-proof commercial ventures.
Known as the family entertainment zone (FEZ), it can trace its roots back to 2008 after Manteca had landed Bass Pro Shops and Orchard Valley as the result of an effort to boost sales tax revenue to fund day-to-day municipal services as well as grow the local job market and economy.
BLD — which has booked tournament play every weekend (except during the pandemic) when it opened in 2008 — was the first bookend put in place for the FEZ.
The other happened with Great Wolf’s opening in 2021.
The city’s goal was to use those two to serve as a magnet to build synergy for the FEZ.
The idea was building a cluster of family entertainment style concerns ranging from sports venues, recreation endeavors such as go-carts and miniature golf to dining experiences with a recreation twist such as Pickles & Chicken (pickle courts wedded with a restaurant) and Dave and Buster’s.
What they share are experiences that can’t be replicated online.
As such it is taxable consumer spending that can’t be ravaged by migrating to virtual commerce.
The right mixture can be somewhat rescission proof as well.
Research shows in previous recessions, people cutback on extended vacations and even shorter five day vacation in favor of staycations.
Examples in the Bay Area market that Manteca is now chipping into thanks to Great Wolf, included families with disposable income dropping week-long vacations to places like Vail to spending more weekends skiing close to home such as Bear Valley.
Location is big for the FEZ.
Manteca is within 60 to 75 minutes of San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Sacramento.
And it is at the center of a triangle within 20 miles of 800,000 residents in Modesto, Tracy, Mountain House, Stockton, Ceres, Lathrop, Escalon, Ripon, and Manteca.
The FEZ has more than location going for it.
With the opening of the McKinley Avenue interchange more than a year ago, the overall 150-acre FEZ endeavor fronts the 120 Bypass accessed with quick and easy access by a pair of interchanges a mile apart.
It also helps the main road for the FEZ — complete with main infrastructure and cross streets that have been stubbed — is already in place making much of the area shovel ready for development.
The ultimate goal for the city is to grow the general fund via retail, dining, and entertainment related sales taxes as well as room taxes.
Also working in the city’s favor, is the fact they are the land owner.
That means development isn’t dependent on the whims and strategies of the private sector.
A prime example was the previous owners of the Orchard Valley that passed on various inquires to fill vacant in-line retail space.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
