Mystery land buyers around California Air Force base revealed

[quaint]

KTLA https://ktla.com/news/california/mystery-land-buyers-around-california-air-force-base-revealed/

Despite early speculation China was behind the purchases — amid concerns that companies with ties to China have been ramping up efforts to buy American farmland — legal representation for Flannery has maintained the group is controlled by U.S. citizens, with 97% of its capital coming from U.S.-based investors.

According to the reports, the investors’ plan for the land involves creating a new urban center that could accommodate the growing demands of the tech industry and provide a fresh environment for innovation and economic growth.

Garamendi said utilizing an initiative means they’re going to override the local protections that are in place for Travis Air Force Base.

According to Garamendi, the area is “heavily impacted by some very severe restrictions that prevent development and other kinds of activities that would somehow degrade or harm Travis Air Force Base.”

Whoa.

[Tetrachloride]

1. Why the "whoa"

[quaint]

3. Oops, answered in the wrong spot.

[quaint]

2. Over-riding local protections so Silicon Valley rich people can build a new city and national security concerns.

[Phoenix61]

4. Interesting how those high-tech boys are all about free market capitalism....

until they aren’t.

“Since no California laws require them to sell, the land was bargained for by both parties at a much higher price. But now, Flannery is suing those families for $510 million, accusing them of conspiring together to inflate the value of the land.”

Says the guy who spent the last 5 years secretly buying up the land around Travis AFB.

[Captain Zero]

5. Doesn't guarantee China is not a participant

With all the inflated money involved.

The person(s) buying it all up could have agreed to leases with Chinese shell companies already.

The leases could be in proposed development right next to Travis. Isn't this happening with an AFB in Washington State too?

Maybe I'm paranoid, but seems like NSA should be too.

[Irish_Dem]

6. Exactly. The Chinese would not brazenly buy the property in their names.

Duh.

[Auggie]

7. I know this area. It's a crime to transform it.

Beautiful farm land. Beautiful vistas. Very raw in places with little to no infrastructure.

The only public transit service close to servicing this area is CalTrain. It's a slow and cumbersome ride to the Bay Area -- can't imagine anyone depending on it everyday. It would be fast to Sacramento and Davis though.

Additional traffic will further snarl parts of Highway 12, currently a two-lane road, through Rio Vista and eastward towards highways 5 and 99.

There's plenty of available land/property in existing towns needing to be transformed. Why this?

[quaint]

8. I don't know but Garamendi this year secured a lot of money for local improvements.

January 12, 2023 Press Release

WASHINGTON, DC—Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA) secured $37 million as part of a government funding package for Fiscal Year 2023 for transportation, workforce development, affordable housing, drinking water improvement, and flood control projects in the Bay Area as well as Solano, Yolo, and Sacramento counties. The legislation was signed into law by President Biden.

[Auggie]

9. Mmmm ...

well, $37 million isn't much these days --not if it encompasses transportation, workforce development, affordable housing, drinking water improvement, AND flood control projects in the Bay Area AS WELL AS Solano, Yolo, and Sacramento counties.

I don't see how Garamendi's efforts could be connected to this land deal. But local improvements, whatever they are, will be welcomed.

[quaint]

10. Oops, wrong section

You are correct, of course.

Access to Travis Air Force Base and Canon Road Safety Improvements: $4,000,000

This federal funding would construct a four-lane arterial roadway at the intersection of Vanden Road that includes a future grade separation to replace the existing two-lane at-grade crossing. The project would also include the installation of complete street improvements consisting of sidewalks, Class II bike lanes, landscaping, and streetlights.
This project will benefit the community by allowing the City of Fairfield, with the Solano Transportation Authority, to improve the at-grade crossing. This will reduce train-involved accidents and provide safe truck access to 286 acres of planned development in northeast Fairfield to support a proposed 4.6 million square feet of new industrial sites and jobs.