Why are the likes of Amazon, United Parcel Service, and a multitude of other firms seeking to locate distribution centers and other business park style operations in San Joaquin County to serve the richest regional economy in the nation that surrounds the San Francisco Bay bypassing Manteca?The San Joaquin Partnership has the brutally honest numbers.uOf 11 million square feet of existing industrial space in the county, only 212,000 square feet or 1.8 percent of the overall total is in Manteca. Ready-to-convert building shells are critical for firms that need to move or expand within months and not years.uOf the 16,176 acres countywide of vacant industrial land, only 844 acres — or 5.2 percent of that total is in Manteca. And more than half of that is part of the Austin Road Business Park that stalled, due in a large part, by the city’s inaction on a development agreement that caused the original partnership to disintegrate.uNot only does Manteca have limited office space, but there is no “Class A” space critical to snag Bay Area concerns looking for high profile offices that could soon join the exodus of distribution to San Joaquin County.The San Joaquin Partnership is making a presentation to the City Council Tuesday at 7 p.m. after Councilwoman Debby Moorhead during the council budget workshop balked at sending the non-profit $35,000 to help bring jobs to Manteca and nearby communities“What have they done for Manteca?”
MANTECA LACKING
City needs industrial, office space