US billionaires say they have completed the purchase of land to create a utopian city from scratch – 11/05/2023 – Market

A billionaire-backed Silicon Valley group says it has acquired all the land needed to build a utopian city in Northern California, after quietly purchasing more properties over the past month.

Flannery Associates, the company behind the California Forever project, acquired at least seven additional parcels totaling about 330 acres in Solano County in October, according to county records.

The company now owns more than 21,400 hectares in the area — after some properties changed hands — where it plans to create a sustainable, walkable community that it says would create thousands of jobs.

“With regard to future purchases, except for a few remaining properties that Flannery has under contract and will close in the coming weeks, Flannery has acquired all of the land it needs and does not anticipate making any further purchases,” the company said in a statement.

The group of investors is led by former Goldman Sachs trader Jan Sramek and backed by technology moguls such as former Sequoia Capital chairman Mike Moritz, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen.

They spent more than $800 million acquiring land for the project, a purchase made extremely discreetly over several years but which was revealed in late August.

Since then, the project has faced criticism from local officials and residents who fear the impact of its plans on the environment, the local agricultural economy and the security of nearby Travis Air Force Base.

Compounding tensions, Flannery is suing a group of Solano landowners for allegedly conspiring to inflate their property values ​​by $170 million.

Flannery is seeking at least $510 million in damages, or three times the amount allegedly inflated by the price fixing. The landowners deny the accusation and are seeking to have the case dismissed.

Some of the land Flannery purchased last month was owned by Barnes Family Ranch Associates, Lambie Ranch Associates and Kirby Hill Associates, three of the defendants named in the lawsuit filed in May in Sacramento federal court.

Flannery confirmed on Thursday (2) that it paid US$44,500 per hectare to reach an agreement with Barnes, Lambie and Kirby, the equivalent of three times the market value

The land sales came to light after recent court documents revealed the most complete account to date of the landowners’ allegations against Flannery.

The defendants allege that Flannery used pressure tactics to convince farmers, some of whom have farmed in the region for more than a century, to sell their land against their will.

They claim Flannery pitted family members against each other, evicted and terminated leases with farmers who refused to negotiate, and used the cost of litigation to force the land to be sold, according to the documents.

An attorney representing the defendants could not immediately be reached for comment.

The California Forever project has been shrouded in secrecy since its inception. The mysterious purchases have long raised national security concerns, as part of the land surrounds the air base, a major U.S. military hub. This has led local lawmakers to call for a federal investigation and seek more transparency regarding the disclosure of farmland purchases.