The largest undeveloped parcel in the city’s central district could end up being a major game changer not just for addressing Manteca’s homeless issues but for the future of downtown as well.

The 8.06 acres is the vacant field the city acquired at 682 South Main Street along the western edge of the Manteca Industrial Park.

Attention has been mainly on the homeless navigation center component planned for 3.18 acres on the eastern portion of the parcel.

But equally significant is what the city is pursuing on the western 4.88 acres.

It is a mixed use venture integrating commercial on the ground floor in buildings facing South Main Street.

Floors above the structures that could go as high as four stories will be residential.

The plan calls for affordable and permanent supportive housing.

The affordable housing would be in the genre of the Juniper Apartments complex on Atherton Drive next door to Tesoro Apartments that command some of the highest rents in Manteca.

The Juniper complex — with architectural touches that dovetail into the standards used at Tesoro and the nearby Paseo Villas apartments — is subsidized workforce housing.

It is designed for those working who hold jobs paying within a specific income range for the greater Manteca area. Based on household size and income, tenants pay a percentage of the rent.

Permanent supportive housing is a strategy that weds affordable housing assistance with volunteer support services for chronically homeless people.

The services used help develop living and tenancy skills with community-based health care and employment services.

Those units tied to the permanent supportive housing endeavor will have tenants working but likely in the lower end of the income spectrum, at least initially.

Some 15,000 square feet of build-to-suit space on the bottom floor will be available for conventional office and commercial uses.

But it also will be designed to provide live-work studios where residents reside in the same space they work.

The affordable and supportive housing components will include a combined 72 studio apartments, 72 one-bedroom apartments, and 48 two-bedroom apartments.

The residential portion will bring roughly 250 new residents within several blocks of walking distance of downtown.

And that includes accessing the Manteca Transit Center with its citywide and intercity bus service. It is also where ACE commuter train service to San Jose and Sacramento is targeted to be up and running in 2026.

Increased density via infill or replacement multi-family housing of older homes in downtown as well as within easy walking distance will boost the consumer market for services, restaurants, and other commercial concerns downtown needs to survive and thrive.

It is the same concept that flanking Livermore’s central district with high density concentrations of row house-style homes and townhouse has done to help their downtown flourish.

As an added bonus the parcel is also well situated to other shopping opportunities. Walmart and Safeway are the rough equivalents of being two or so blocks away.

The city is looking for a partner to help develop the front portion of the 8.06 acres.

The homeless

navigation center

In making the official presentation of a $16 million grant for homeless navigation center portion of the project that she worked hard to secure, State Sen. Susan Eggman noted Manteca’s holistic approach concentrated on one-site got the attention of state housing officials.

The $16 million, wedded with other state and federal funding lined up so far, means Manteca has $20.4 million of the estimate $28 million needed to build and equip the homeless navigation center.

The access to the homeless navigation center will be from the “back” of the parcel from Carnegie Court.

There will be no access from South Main Street.

There is nothing else facing Carnegie Court.

The back of a flooring distribution center as well as the side of a modular building fabrication yard border the street stem leading into the cul-de-sac off of Mellon Avenue.

The access driveway will be tucked away from view of Mellon Avenue.

The homeless navigation center area will be bordered on the north by a mini-storage complex.

The City Council has repeatedly emphasized a masonry sound wall — likely 7-foot high — will separate the homeless navigation center from the mixed use project along South Main Street.

That — when coupled with the four-story buildings envisioned — will completely block any possible view of the homeless navigation center from South Main Street or the residential neighborhood from the four-lane arterial.

Homeless navigation centers do not operate as drop-in shelters per se.

Those ready to start the process of getting off the streets and being able to secure permanent housing and — in many cases — being able to support themselves are typically transported to the location.

Manteca is likely to do what a number of other cities have done with their homeless navigation centers.

That includes imposing a distance where it is illegal — under carveouts allowed by the 9th District Appeals Court — for loitering or any type of camping even in vehicles.

The end result is there should be little or no trace of the homeless navigation center or the homeless for the general public to see without driving directly to it on the cul-de-sac.

The navigation center will include dorm rooms, common areas, a health clinic, offices, supportive services, restrooms, showers, transitional housing units, and supportive housing.

It will include:

*154 men’s dorms.

*93 women’s dorms.

*36 family dorms.

*16 transitional housing units.

*Common room.

*Full-service kitchen.

*Offices for the operator and shared outside services.

*Restrooms and showers

The $20.4 million the city has lined up for the homeless navigation center includes:

*San Joaquin County General Fund (General Services), $2 million.

*City of Manteca (City Funds), $892,678

* San Joaquin County Community Development Grant, $500,000

*Community Project Funding (HUD), $ 750,000.

*State of California Housing Community Development funds, $16 million.

*Federal HOME funds, $291,899.  

The City of Manteca has determined that the project will have no significant impact on the environment.

Therefore, an Environmental Impact Statement under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) is not required.

Any individual, group, or agency may submit written comments on the assessment to Vielka E. Guarascio, Management Analyst, City of Manteca, Office of the City Manager, 1001 W. Center St., Manteca, CA 95337, or by email to vguarascio@manteca.gov.

 All comments received by Jan. 21, 2024, will be considered by the City prior to authorizing the submission of a request for release of funds.   

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com