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LATHROP GROWTH
Lathrop getting 189,000 square foot building for distribution
In n Out

The Crossroads Commerce Center – which is home to tenants such as Tesla, Del Monte, In-N-Out, Ashley Furniture, Home Depot, and JC Penney – is getting another building.

This week the Lathrop Planning Commission approved a proposal from a developer to construct a new 189,000 square foot building and to subdivide an existing 49-acre parcel into a 37.5 acre and 11.5 acre lots. The proposed project – which would include the building, 32 truck docks, 6,000 square feet of office space, 147 vehicle stalls, and 44 tractor-trailer stalls – will be constructed on the 11.5-acre portion of the newly subdivided land.

There is no tenant for the building at this time.

The project site – located at the corner of Harlan Road and Tesla Drive – will add to an already burgeoning industrial park that provides thousands of jobs and has served as a stable source of revenue for the growing city that has seen huge residential and commercial growth over the course of the last several years.

The 528-acre industrial park, which operates on an EIR that was prepared in 1989 when the city was incorporated and revisited in 2001, is currently 90 percent built-out.

While there have been large buildings constructed in Lathrop with tenants in mind or even under contract, a large number of new additions have been built on speculation with the expectation that tenants will soon follow – drawn by Lathrop’s business-friendly climate, proximity to major freeways, and infrastructure upgrades that make it well-suited for truck travel.

Major companies like In-N-Out, which doesn’t freeze any of its food and delivers it from the warehouse to the restaurants that it serves in Northern California, are also drawn by the city’s close proximity to the access point to the larger Sacramento region and the San Francisco Bay Area – both of which are home to millions of residents. With I-5 serving as a major arterial interstate that runs from Mexico to Canada, the entire Western seaboard is accessible within a day’s drive from Lathrop, and plans are in the works to upgrade the freeway access points as the city transitions from a small Central Valley hamlet to a mid-sized California city.

After a 20-day review period for the project prior to the submission of the finalized staff recommendation and determined that there were no significant health impacts from the construction of the project and no substantial evidence was introduced that would require that the city perform an additional Environmental Impact Review for the project.

Wednesday’s meeting marked the first time that the Lathrop Planning Commission conducted its business in public since before Thanksgiving after a December meeting cancellation tabled any possible agenda items.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.