K&B Homes back in 1993 had a unique way to make new homes affordable in Manteca.

They offered them with air conditioning units optional.

And a few buyers from the Bay Area that had no clue about the valley heat took the bait.

The new housing market was still struggling to recover from the drop that started in 1989.

K&B — the builder of the California Classics or Diamonds Oaks subdivision in east Manteca — had managed to offer a new home model lower priced than Raymus Development did at the time.

It was unusual because the late Antone Raymus of Raymus Development — as has his daughter and son Toni and Bob who own Raymus Homes — have  made it their mission to try to offer a solid housing lineup that includes the lowest priced new home model available in Manteca.

K&B’s lowest priced model started at $119,000. Back in 1993. They did it by making the actual air conditioning unit a $6,000 option.

The few homes that were sold without AC units were to people from the Bay Area purchasing their houses between December and February.

Given a lot of homes in the Bay Area thanks to the climate don’t have AC and the fact it isn’t 90 to 100 degrees in Manteca during the winter, it is understandable how one would be tempted to cut corners.

In a way, that reflects the entire affordable home debate. Everything is an added cost that people want or need.

The same goes for fees are as well.

People talk as if the developer is paying the fees but in reality the price they pay for fees — including one proposed for affordable housing — is collapsed into the price of the home they sell.

That brings us to an interesting statistic.

Based on studies done by economists on behalf of the National Association of Home Builders, every $1,000 increase in the price of a home means 40,000 less households across the nation would be in a position to be able to buy their own home.

Nuns told to put

street sign back

As Center Street starts inching closer to St. Dominic’s Drive, it brings back amother weird incident in Manteca’s past.

Kaiser Manteca Hospital was originally built and operated for years as St. Dominic’s Hospital. It was overseen by a healthcare non-profit administered by Catholic sisters.

When the decision was made to sell to Kaiser in 2004, there were some among the order that were none-too-happy Kaiser performed abortion services.

So, on the last day on the hospital campus, maintenance crews were directed to remove the St. Dominic’s Drive Street sign from the city’s pole where the street intersected with Yosemite Avenue.

The sisters simply didn’t want the name of the patron saint of astronomers affiliated with Kaiser given they performed abortion procedures

More than a few tenants in the office building in St. Dominic’s Drive weren’t too happy about it when the found out. They called city hall. The sign went back up.

As irony would have it, Kaiser facilities today flank both sides of St. Dominic’s Drive.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com