Ground zero for changes to downtown Manteca in 2026 could easily be the intersection of Yosemite & Sycamore avenues.
The year is ending with only one business by the intersection — the 24-hour El Forastero Mexican Restaurant.
By the end of 2026, there will be a cafe, combo meat market/restaurant, and possibly a third dining option.
That is in addition to a computer repair business that recently opened and a boutique that is getting ready to open.
And that’s just the start.
The City of Manteca is working on a plan to convert a parcel they intend to work with a non-profit to build a five-story senior housing complex with retail space on the ground floor to create a vibrant downtown gathering place.
The parcel is one of two the city bought in 2022 for a combined $80,000.
It is where a “free standing” wall stood for nearly 40 years as all that remained of a deadly downtown hotel fire. The city several months ago, tore the wall down and “capped” what was left with concrete pavers to serve as de facto seating.
The area between what is now a low-wall sized to double as seating and the wall of an adjacent building is where the city is considering a multi-use gathering place.
They are working with the adjoining property owner to allow the painting of modern murals on the east facing wall.
The actual concrete area between the wall and the existing parking lot could become the home of a new downtown food truck court complete with tables and chairs.
It could also be used as an outdoor in-line skating area.
Fabric shade known as “shade sails” could make the area more pleasant in the spring, summer, and early fall.
The space could be programmed for small community events with wrought iron fencing securing the north end near the alley and the south end near Yosemite Avenue.
“It already has an adjacent parking lot,” noted Manteca Mayor Gary Singh.
The idea is to put the space to public use to draw more people downtown.
The city doesn’t want to spend a lot of money transforming the space.
That’s because the goal within the next 10 years is to leverage transit village housing funds the senior project would be eligible for after ACE passenger service in downtown Manteca starts in what is now projected to be 2028.
Given the parcel is within the walking distance of parameters California has established for a rail passenger station to obtain assistance for creating transit village housing, the city’s long-range goal is to use the proposed senior housing project as a catalyst to bring higher density housing into the downtown area.
There are a number of sites that could be redeveloped where older housing is now located.
Plus there is the large vacant parcel across from the transit center where the Manteca Bean Co. with its storage silos stood until the 1980s.
That parcel and existing older housing stock cobbled together and redeveloped could accommodate the structures needed for successful transit villages — ground commercial/restaurant space and housing in multiple-floors above.
Realizing even if the city was able to meet an aggressive schedule once ACE trains started stopping in downtown in 2028 that it could be at least 2031 before any actual physical work could get started, the city wanted a way to make the parcels they own work to the advantage of downtown and the greater Manteca community.
Sycamore Avenue is
already in change mode
The owners that bought the once fire-damaged two-story Sycamore Arms building on the northeast corner of the Sycamore and Yosemite Avenue intersection, have restored the structure.
A mobile phone and computer repair shop has already opened on the ground floor.
Preparing to open are a cafe and adjoining meat market/restaurant combo.
Directly across the street the possibility of another independent restaurant opening in space that previously housed an Indian ethnic food market is in the early talking stages.
Down the street west of El Forastero in a building that once housed Regal Signs, a boutique is preparing to open.
The 100 block of Sycamore Avenue is where the recently restored two-story brick building known as the Old City Hall is in the process is seeking tenants.
It is across the street from where city opened the public safety annex last year.
A block to the east is where a bakery is preparing to open in the 100 block of Maple Avenue.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
