The first “walk-up” townhomes in the Northern San Joaquin Valley will be built in the first of three town centers in the 15,001-home River Islands at Lathrop planned community.

They represent the type of in-fill housing that could easily start popping up in Manteca’s central district surrounding downtown.

The “walkup” moniker was given to townhouses that are self-contained and go up three or four stories.

In the case of the 210 planned for the first Lathrop town center they will be three stories high.

The townhomes will have between 1,500 and 1,800 square feet of living space.

They are part of River Islands’ strong mixture of neighborhoods featuring new homes ranging from $500,000 to over $900,000.

And while relative affordability has helped spur the concept, they have been coveted in East Bay communities such as Livermore for the lifestyle they afford when they are built in close proximity to downtowns.

It makes going out to a wide repertoire of dining options from homes walkable as well as to access various retail stores and services such as is the case in Livermore.

River Islands intends to take it to the next level by adding community recreation amenities — a stadium in addition to an existing baseball field/soccer complex, as well as two community parks and two man-made lakes — in the initial town center.

Those that embrace the housing concept the most tend to be young professionals, of which many are employed in the ever evolving and expanding Silicon Valley-Bay Area tech sector.

As such the 210 townhouses — out of 688 high density living units including traditional apartments in planned the initial River Islands town center — is likely to draw tech workers.

River Islands has three town centers planned including what will be a transit village on a rail line that is expected to have Valley Link commuter service by the end of the decade.

Valley Link will connect with BART and ACE trains that move commuters to jobs throughout the tech-rich triangle of San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland.

As such, that is likely to help pique interest in River Island’s business park that will be bookended by two of the town centers.

That’s because if there is a big of enough talent pool on this side of the Altamont Pass, a tech concern could locate and snare workers with desired skill sets that have bought into a lifestyle they embrace.

Manteca, which will also have commuter rail service to San Jose, the Bay Area, and Sacramento by the end of 2026 from its downtown, could also develop a strong cluster of young tech employees with such walk-up townhomes as the central district is transformed.

River Islands is also pursuing “four packs” of homes clustered together off of a common driveway.

They already have a cluster of three-pack homes — two free-standing and one above a ground floor with three sets of two-car garages that serves all three homes — that have been popular with buyers.

Hat Ranch in southeast Manteca will have a similar neighborhood of cluster homes.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com