SOLANO COUNTY, Calif. — Flannery Associates CEO Jan Sramek shared on Thursday a new website detailing the reasons his company is buying land throughout Solano County and around Travis Air Force Base.
California Forever is the parent company also founded by Sramek in 2017, the website said, but they didn't involve the community earlier in the planning process to "avoid creating a rush of reckless short-term land speculation."
Building a walkable neighborhood with new paths to homeownership is the company's goal with their 78-square-mile land purchase.
The future of California Forever will be ultimately up to the voters though, at least according to their website, which says Solano County's Orderly Growth Measure passed in 2008 requires projects outside of cities be submitted to the voters for approval.
Sramek, a former Goldman Sachs trader, spoke to multiple local elected officials ahead of sharing the new website.
The website's FAQ section addresses many of the questions and concerns officials have over the purported mega-cities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Though officials expressed concern over the 50,000 acres of land purchased so close to Travis Airforce Base, a company spokesperson writes that they plan to comply with Solano County requirements regarding the base.
According to The New York Times, billionaire investors of the now-$800 million project include Laurene Powell Jobs, Marc Andreessen and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.
California Forever representatives say their investors are "passive investors" and are not involved in day-to-day operations.
Company representatives also said on the new website that they want to preserve the nearby agricultural lands, and though they're trying to purchase land from the local farmers, those who do not want to sell will "form this agricultural green belt around the new community."
But according to a May lawsuit, Flannery Associates accused several landowners of conspiring to fix prices after they refused to sell their property.
Farmers who sold their land to Flannery Associates are now renting that very same land from the company, according to the company website.
As for transportation and water, company representatives say they hope to see improvements on Highway 12, and they will obtain water from multiple water sources.
U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, whose district includes Travis Airforce Base and areas around it, said base and county officials reached out about five years ago trying to figure out who was buying up land.
Garamendi, who met with Sramek Friday, was appalled to learn who was backing the project.
“You big wealthy Silicon Valley billionaires, you’re party to all of this. This is the kind of people you are? This is how you want to operate? What they’ve managed to do is to totally poison the well,” he said.
Click here to check out the California Forever website.
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