Manteca is making a bid to snare firms seeking Class A office space.

An in order to do that the city needs a mid-rise Class A office building.

That is why on Tuesday the Manteca City Council approved staff pursuing a public-private partnership on 9.15 acres of city-owned land backing up to the 120 Bypass on the southeast corner of Daniels Street and Fishback Road. Staff will develop a request for proposals delineating what they are seeking and then circulate it with a deadline for potential projects to be submitted.

The building could be 100,000 square feet or more and could easily soar seven or so stories.

Class A office buildings by definition not only are the newest in a market but they also are of the highest quality and generally the best looking buildings and highest quality building infrastructure along with being well located with good access.

Manteca Economic Development Manager Don Smail said rising Pleasanton-Dublin area rents for Class ‘A’ office space such as found as Spanos Park along Interstate 5 in north Stockton has created a strong demand for other alternative locations. It is believed such as office structure would attract firms that want satellite offices to serve the rapidly growing Northern San Joaquin Valley portion of the San Jose-San Francisco-Sacramento triangle, the nation’s third largest economic metroplex after Los Angeles-San Diego and New York-Long Island.

Firms that have office functions may also be interested in relocating to the Northern San Joaquin Valley given the pool of almost 75,000 commuters that head west over the Altamont Pass each day to Bay Area jobs.

The city last month approved a 75,196-square-foot, 101-room, 4-story Staybridge Suites hotel on an adjoining parcel.

Based on current market prices, the sale of the land for a Class A office complex could bring in as much as $7.8 million.

This is not the first time a Class A office project has been proposed in Manteca but it is the first one the city is proposing to take a major role in bringing to reality.

Oak Valley Community Bank had secured approval to build a 9-story on the southwest corner of the 120 Bypass and Highway 99 interchange. The advent of the Great Recession prompted the bank to drop those plans.

In 2011 developers secured preliminary approval for the mixed-use Yosemite Square project on the northeast corner of the same interchange. It included housing — single family homes, condos, and apartments — as well as four Class A office buildings ranging between 50 and 60 feet in height. It had the high profile location — more than 150,000 vehicles pass the site each day — but access is problematic.

Developers in 2006 rolled out a proposal for a second phase to The Promenade Shops at Orchard Valley that would have included some restaurants,  two twin towers of 70 feet to accommodate five floors of office uses plus an eight-story hotel at 100 feet on land to the east of Bass Pro Shops.

The plan never got beyond the conceptual stages.  The land is now in the process of being developed for 428 apartments.

The city believes the market timing is now better, the region has grown significantly, and the growing drawing power of development north of the 120 Bypass at Airport Way will attract investors wishing to develop Class A office space.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@manetcabulletin.com