Despite the pandemic Manteca is on track for the third highest year ever for new construction in terms of overall value.

As of June 30, the City of Manteca has issued 1,425 permits for new building valued at $137.7 million.

Upwards of $50 million in permits for work are expected to be submitted for the first half of the 428-unit Valencia Place apartment complex where foundation and site work is now taking place along Atherton Drive east of Bass Pro Shops at the Hampton Inn.

 That means Manteca will easily surpass $228 million in new construction by the time this year ends.

Manteca in 3½ years ending June 30 has topped $1.3 billion in new building. That’s just a tad more than the value of new construction for the first 10 years of this century.

The $228 million mark — the third highest on record — was set in 2017.

The city issued 3,655 building permits valued at $444.9 million in 2019 for the second most robust building year on record. That compared to the record year of $446.8 million in 2018. Both 2018 and 2019 were when permits for the $180 million Great Wolf resort opening Sept. 1 were processed by the city.

For the first time since 2016 new housing has taken over as the No. 1 category in terms of value. Developers have started 242 new single homes valued at $79 million through June of this year. Another 42 homes valued at $7.3 million are currently being processed by the city.

Permits for 553 single family homes — including 37 master plan homes — valued at a combined $181 million were issued in 2019.

In the past three years Great Wolf as well as permits for new distribution centers has dwarfed the category for new single family homes.

The next biggest category to date is commercial remodels with 20 permits issued for a combined value of $25.3 million.

Solar installations have slowed down somewhat with changes in tax laws. There was a record 1,024 residential solar power systems installed in 2019 compared to 242 during the first six months of this year.

Swimming pool construction is on pace to match the 122 built in 2019. Permits for 61 swimming pools have been processed so far this year.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com