Silicon Valley figures have quietly begun purchasing farmland near San Francisco Bay to transform it into a mysterious utopian city, much to the dismay of local residents.
In August, the New York Times has revealed the identity of a buyer who has been acquiring land in the interior of the country for several years, between San Francisco and Sacramento, the capital of the state of California. It’s a company called Flannery Associates, created by Jan Sramek, a former banker who founded a continuing education company.
The organization recently claimed on its website that it had acquired more than 50,000 acres of land for its “California Forever” project, with backers including LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, Steve Jobs’ widow Laurene Powell Jobs, and Marc Andreessen. star technology investor.
“All kinds of stratagems”
According to court documents, the tech moguls have already paid more than $800 million to realize their vision of a city in the middle of nowhere.
According to several neighbors interviewed by AFP, the company began buying land in this county, between the city of Fairfield and Travis Air Force Base, about five years ago. Cassandra Dana remembers receiving her first unsolicited offer from Flannery to buy her ranch in 2018. They haven’t stopped calling her since.
John Sweeney was contacted five years ago by a group supposedly interested in his property, with the goal of preserving it for agriculture. According to him, the residents of this close-knit community were the target of “all kinds of schemes. Overall, it was pretty fake.”
“We would receive more money”
Selon le site du projet, la nouvelle ville sera “le foyer de l’agriculture et des industries d’énergie verte qui nourrissent et alimentent durament notre État, un lieu de vie ideal pour la classe moyenne et la base aérienne la plus active de our country”.
“It will include a variety of land uses: a new city, but also solar farms and open spaces, including both agriculture and protection of the natural environment.” But the road to utopia is full of obstacles.
Flannery filed suit against some landowners in federal court, accusing them of conspiring against her to obtain higher sales prices. The company is seeking $500 million.
Flannery declined an interview request.
“A modern San Francisco”
Fairfield Mayor Catherine Moy says she learned about this land acquisition campaign a few weeks ago. “We’re trying to understand what’s happening,” she said. Flannery purchased land around the air base, which is used in particular to transport equipment to Ukraine and other regions of the world, according to the elected official.
For now, these lands are occupied by cattle, wind turbines, farmers and ranchers who have long coexisted in harmony with the base, he emphasizes.
“This city project breaks my heart because it will ruin our entire rural area, all these beautiful tracts of land,” Cassandra Dana continues while tending a small herd of goats.
Catherine Moy wrote a letter to the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, expressing her concerns. Last week, she said that the project also surprised her and that she wanted to learn more.
The project website does not provide practical details, such as the water supply needed to build the new city. This project “I imagine would transform the countryside into a modern San Francisco,” laughs John Sweeney.
Source: BFM TV
