An 11th hour snafu could jeopardize plans for Great Wolf to build a 500-room hotel and indoor waterpark in Manteca.
Great Wolf wants to close escrow on 29 acres of city-owned land just west of Costco along the 120 Bypass this Friday.
The issue centers around concerns South San Joaquin Irrigation District has about liability regarding potential flooding of the Great Wolf project site while the city relocates the French Camp outlet canal to do work needed to extend Daniels Street from its terminus by Costco to McKinley Avenue.
The City Council is conducting a special meeting Thursday to consider an agreement for the city to strengthen the existing irrigation canal and be liable for the work until Daniels Street plans are approved and certified that they won’t flood the Great Wolf site.
“This could be a deal killer, but I think this solution will suffice,” City Manager Tim Ogden said. “If Great Wolf closes Friday, they hope to begin grading next week.
A groundbreaking ceremony will be planned once the liability issue is resolved.
The $180 million investment Great Wolf is making will make it the largest project ever in Manteca.
Between property taxes, its share of the room taxes, a 3 percent increase of the room tax that would all go to the city if voters approve it, sales taxes, and Measure M public safety tax the city’s annual revenue would top $2.2 million annual the first 10 years and increase significantly in the 11th year.
The impacts of Great Wolf include:
.*The 500-room hotel will be the largest in the 450-mile long Great Central Valley that stretches from Redding to Bakersfield.
*Even with a split of the room tax the resort generates for 25 years to help finance the project, it will be the city’s biggest source of taxes when it opens.
*With 350 fulltime equivalent jobs — 250 fulltime and 250 part-time positions — it will be the second largest private sector employer in Manteca behind Doctors Hospital of Manteca.
*It will employ the greatest number of construction jobs ever for a single project in Manteca by employing 1,397 people in various building phases earning $76.3 million.
*It will give Manteca the biggest private sector year-round destination resort in the Northern San Joaquin Valley drawing 500,000 visitors a year.
*Great Wolf will be the largest non-distribution center building in Manteca in terms of floor space coming in with just over three times the size of the 140,000-square-foot Costco store next door that is currently the largest.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
