Back in 1947, “Manteca” was the proverbial “18 with a bullet.”
The reference is to Pete Winfield’s hit of 1975 by the same name.
“Bullet” is radio lingo for a record still going strong and/or poised to keep moving up the charts.
Hence, a mythical “the oldie but goodie” Winfield sang about was 18th on the chart and expected to keep going.
The song “Manteca” was composed by Dizzy Gillespie in California.
No, it wasn’t named for Manteca as in Manteca, California.
Instead, it was inspired by Afro-Cuban slang that back in the 1940s that hijacked the Spanish word for “lard’ as a slang reference for heroin.
A heroin epidemic — one of many prior and since — developed in the United States after World War II.
It had wide use among hipsters involved in the Harlem jazz scene in the 1940a and the Beatnik movement that followed in the 1950s.
“Manteca” is considered by music historians to be a foundational song that launched the Afro-Cuban jazz genre.
This column isn’t about music or drugs.
Unless, of course, you’re among those believing the City of Manteca is addicted to growth.
Instead, it is about Manteca still growing strong and designated by the development world as being 18 with a bullet.
Manteca, in other words, has a high expectation to not just keep growing but to possibly even accelerate up the growth charts.
And you can blame that all on the fact the cradle of modern tech west of the Altamont Pass hasn’t lost is mojo as the artificial intelligence roll out underscores in a way Texas et al can only dream of.
There are two clear signs.
One involves 56 acres where Yellow Freight, which went belly up last year, wanted to build a freight terminal in the late 1980s before opting for Tracy.
The other involves the rebirth of a cluster of a dozen or so small homes in the sub-600 square-foot range on the southern end of Walnut Avenue behind the Foster’s Freeze on West Yosemite Avenue.
First the 56 acres.
There is a project with 672 apartments, 48 duplex units, and 98 single family homes advancing on the southeast corner of the Main Street/120 Bypass interchange.
No big deal, right?
Sounds just like another day in Manteca with developers moving forward more housing projects.
But this one is different.
And why it is targeted to be built in Manteca speaks volumes about the type of growth the big players in housing foresee here and elsewhere in the de facto affordable housing market for the Silicon Valley/Bay Area.
We know it by another geographic reference — South San Joaquin County.
More precisely it’s a city constellation — call it “Incrementum” which is Latin for growth — that includes the bright growth stars of Manteca, Lathrop, Tracy, and Mountain House.
The project is being pursued by Quarterra, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lennar Homes, the nation’s second largest home builder.
The subsidiary is Lennar’s entry in the growing trend of national builders to retain ownership of single family homes, duplexes, as well as apartments.
They go from being developers to landlords.
Quarterra has built and leases 4,891 single family homes in 19 markets. Their single family lease portfolio and an average age of 0.8 years.
You read that correctly.
They build a new neighborhood and go from being developer to landlord holding onto and leasing out every housing unit they build.
The markets such developer-to-landlord projects take place in have a high demand for housing, are growing and are destined to continue growing, and have an affordability issue.
The homes are leased aiming for monthly payments that are, on average, at the 85th percentage of the median are income.
They are aimed at households that want a standalone home that either don’t have the downpayment, have the income but can’t qualify for a mortgage, or simply prefer renting for a variety of reasons.
The clustering of leased housing in one neighborhood works well for maintenance and leasing to the point it significantly improves the bottom line of being a landlord as opposed to a large portfolio of rental/lease properties spread throughout a city with rarely more than one in any specific area.
The big players aren’t the only ones reading the proverbial tea leaves and seeing a strong future of being a landlord in Manteca.
Manteca has seen a jump of infill projects in the past few years. While there are single family homes built for sale, most are duplexes and small apartment complexes.
And there are more in the pipeline.
The numbers aren’t exactly overwhelming, but after years of small potatoes infill being virtually non-existent it is a significant trend.
But perhaps most telling is the dozen or so small homes grouped together on northwest corner of Nevada Street and South Walnut Avenue.
They are undergoing a major makeover and modernization.
The transformation is stark and significant.
And they are renting for $1,800.
A similar-size one-bedroom apartment at the Laurel Glenn complex on Button Avenue is commanding $1,870.
The interior features are in the same ballpark. The real significant difference is you don’t have a neighbor below your floor, above your ceiling, or on the other side of the wall.
They are free-standing homes.
And they are clearly at-market rents.
As any concern that owns an apartment complex — or groups of duplex or home rentals can tell you — as each year passes rental property done right gets a better cash flow.
That is especially true in areas that have strong steady growth and not a surplus of available housing.
Manteca is clearly on the radar of a whole lot of major regional and national concerns when it comes to housing as well as commercial and even distribution centers. That is in addition to the local players.
And it’ll likely mean the foot will be in the growth pedal for a significant time to come and even could be given more gas.
The 968 new single family homes permits that were issued in Manteca for the 12-month period ending June 30 underscores that point.
This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
