A third hotel — WoodSpring Suites — wants to build near the Airport Way and 120 Bypass interchange.

It’s exactly that Great Wolf representatives indicated would happen more than a decade ago when they shared plans with the public during a gathering at a nearby restaurant at the city-owned Big League Dreams sports complex.

That’s because as a major self-contained resort, Great Wolf locations — especially away from established urban areas such as Garden Grove in Southern California — the indoor waterpark draws attention from private sector investors.

It’s much like what the early leaders of Burger King used to decide on where to site a new location. They piggybacked on market and economic research by the fast food giant itself — McDonald’s — and tried to build close to them.

No one understands that more than Steve DeBrum, former Manteca mayor and San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors candidate in the March 2023 election.

DeBrum was part of the council subcommittee working with Great Wolf during the decade-long process of getting them to locate here. DeBrum was mayor when the deal was finally cemented as well as when the ground breaking took place.

“The day after March 20, 2018 when Great Wolf announced its plans, we (the City of Manteca) started getting calls,” DeBrum recalled.

Firms were suddenly interested in looking at Manteca as a place to do bushiness given Great Wolf’s status as a major player in the resort business that methodically picks the most advantageous location possible in its market.

And given Great Wolf was now investing more than $180 million in Manteca to tap into the second largest market in the country — the Northern California metroplex anchored by San Francisco, San Jose, and Sacramento — the city was now on the radar of other concerns such as hotel chains

Since Great Wolf has opened three hotels have advanced plans to join them near the Airport Way/120 Bypass interchange.

*Staybridge Suites that is now building a four-story, 101-room hotel near Sizzler’s restaurant.

*Courtyard by Marriott has submitted plans to build a four-story, 117-room hotel as part of a commercial complex on the southwest corner of the interchange along Atherton Drive.

*WoodSpring Suites, an extended stay hotel with nearly 300 locations, has also submitted plans to build near the interchange.

Besides boosting municipal hotel room tax revenue to support general fund services such as police and fire, landing Great Wolf was considered a coup for Manteca’s long-range strategy of pursuing economic development that e-commerce couldn’t undermine.

Great Wolf — along with the nearby BLD sports complex – was a large factor in Loma Brewing Company’s decision to locate in Manteca,

The brewing firm owned by retired Major League Baseball player Kevin Youkilis is in the process of negotiating to build on city-owned BLD property along Daniels Street at Milo Candini Drive.

 The city is using Great Wolf and BLD to anchor its efforts to develop a 100-acre family entertainment zone.

Great Wolf, which spends millions a year on advertising, has elevated Manteca’s profile.

It is advertised as Great Wolf Lodge — San Francisco/Manteca.

But perhaps its biggest impact is what former Councilman Richard Silverman referred to as “the five-story billboard along the 120 Bypass” at the city’s western entrance — the 500-room indoor waterpark resort itself.

It is the largest hotel in the Great Central Valley stretching from Redding to Bakersfield.

As such, it serves as a gigantic calling card for Manteca and speaks volumes of its economic potential.

Great Wolf also has an option that it may exercise to build an additional 250 rooms.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com