Tesla is planning to build a Manteca service and sales center on Atherton Drive west of Living Spaces.

It involves buying 3.7 acres the City of Manteca owns at 1403 West Atherton Drive.

The deal is a major economic win for Manteca.

Not only does it give Manteca its first new dealership since Country Kia took over the vacant Nissan dealership in the early 1990s on Northgate Drive and Main Street, but the city will pocket $4 million with the land deal.

The land is part of a 3.85-acre triangle shaped parcel the city bought in 2024 for $2.2 million.

The city acquired the site that was considered problematic by the private sector in a bid to search out a suitable user to develop it.

The deal means Manteca will have netted $1.8 million off the property in two years’ time.

But that is just the start of the return on the 2024 investment.

The city is retaining ownership of 0.15 acres that it is leasing long-term to OutFront Media for an electronic LED billboard.

The billboard deal led by Mayor Gary Singh will assure the city receives at least $300,000 annually .

A second billboard location on the southeast quadrant of the Highway 99/Lathrop Road interchange will also generate a minimum of $300,000 yearly.

The city is in the process of finalizing that deal.

The land-lease agreement for each site assures Manteca a minimum $300,000 yearly per location.

And if as revenue exceeds a set threshold, that revenue is split 50-50 at the Atherton Drive location east of Living Spaces furniture and three ways with a private property owner in the mix at the Highway 99 site.

The city would also be able to promote community events and municipal messages on the billboards at no cost.

The Manteca Tesla location is just west of where Kia Country is building a new dealership on Atherton west of the Woodbridge Springs Suites that recently opened.

The closest Tesla showrooms and service centers are in Stockton and Modesto.

Manteca has three Tesla SuperCharger stations in place — near Bass Pro, near Target, and near Sizzler on Airport Way.

Tesla also has a large manufacturing presence in Lathrop with parts being machined for Teslas as well as a battery storage factory that assembles battery packs to store excess power generated by the grid.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com