The tech billionaires who for years secretly amassed land in the overgrown grasslands at the edge of the San Francisco Bay have said they intend to start collecting signatures for a ballot initiative in Solano County that would clear the way for Build a new city from scratch.
The group, called California Forever, envisions a community with tens of thousands of new homes, along with new parks, bike lanes and open spaces, as well as a solar farm. They are planning a model city. It would be walkable, socioeconomically integrated and powered by clean energy.
But to get there, supporters will have to convince Solano County voters. That could be a difficult hurdle considering the project began with secret land purchases and erupted into controversy last year amid unfounded public speculation that the buyers were foreign agents intent on espionage. Federal, state and local approvals will also be required.
In theory, supporters said, the new city could have a population of several hundred thousand people. But that is very far away. If the ballot measure is approved, other government approvals will be required. The lawsuits could also stall the matter in court. The soonest construction could begin, backers said, is 2026.
“We are excited to share the details of our plan to build a better Solano with all of you,” Jan Sramek, CEO of California Forever, said in a statement. “This can be a new economic driver for Solano County and proof that when we work together, California can still do great things.”
The public campaign is a clear departure from the project's origins, which began years ago when a mysterious LLC called Flannery Associates began purchasing thousands of acres of farmland. The purchases, which totaled more than $800 million, made millionaires of some property sellers, many of whose families had owned the land for more than a century.
But Flannery Associates did not reveal why it was buying the landwhich for decades had been grazed and more recently has been dotted with wind turbines, spinning lazily as the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta empties into San Francisco Bay.
Because much of the land is near Travis Air Force Base, some residents and elected officials began to speculate that Flannery Associates was a front for foreign investors seeking to spy on the base, one of the most active military installations in the country. country.
U.S. Rep. John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove), who represents the region, said last year that he and other officials had been unable for years to determine who was behind the rapid land grab and criticized the company for not work with local residents.
“Flannery Associates is using secrecy, intimidation and mob tactics to force generational farm families to sell,” the congressman said.
But it was later revealed that the sponsors were not spies but titans of the tech industry, including Reid Hoffman; Marc Andreessen; and Patrick and John Collison, who founded the payments company Stripe.
Now, California Forever is launching a plan to win over those who have expressed skepticism, and there are many of them. Officials have pledged $400 million in funding for down payment assistance for Solano County residents to purchase homes in the new community. They have also revealed renderings depicting idyllic squares, tranquil wetlands and charming cafes.
If the measure gets enough signatures, it could go before Solano County voters in November.
