Who Are the Wealthy Investors Buying Rural California Land?
2023-09-11
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1A group of technology investors recently released its plans to create a new "green" city between San Francisco and Sacramento in California.
2The group's name is California Forever.
3It posted the plans on its website of the same name.
4The leader is Jan Sramek, a former trader for the financial services company Goldman Sachs.
5California Forever has purchased about $800 million of land in Solano County.
6The county includes small cities, many farms, and an American military base.
7The area is about 100 kilometers from San Francisco and 50 kilometers from the state capital of Sacramento.
8About 450,000 people live in the county.
9The cost of a mid-level home is around $600,000 while homes closer to San Francisco can be two or three times more.
10Housing supply is one of the greatest concerns in California, and those who work as schoolteachers, nurses or police officers cannot live close to where they work.
11California Forever's announcement opened with this message,
12"Starting a conversation about eastern Solano County. A chance for a new community, good paying local jobs, solar farms and open space."
13The post includes a lot of information about the land purchases and the group's ideas.
14The website includes drawings of new homes, farms, fields with solar panels, people sitting in boats and fishing and eating meals in a central city area.
15The investment group has purchased 202 square kilometers of land since 2018.
16Among the investors are business leaders Laurene Powell Jobs, tech investor Marc Andreessen and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman.
17California Forever's post reported that 97 percent of its investors are American.
18There had been some concerns that the investment group was from outside of the U.S.
19The project sounds good to the investors, but local leaders and residents are not sure they agree.
20To start with, many people are upset with the group's secrecy.
21The investors made the purchases under the name "Flannery Associates LLC."
22Mike Thompson represents the area in the lower house of the U.S. Congress.
23He said the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been working to learn who was behind the land purchases.
24"Their secrecy has caused a lot of problems, a lot of time and a lot of expense," Thompson said.
25The investors say they needed to keep their identities secret until they had enough land.
26Now that they are discussing the project, they say they want to have conversations with the residents of Solano.
27The group started by sending a survey to homeowners.
28The survey asked residents about what they want for the future of Solano County.
29Residents' answers included lower cost of living, more good jobs, as well as improved schools and safety from crime.
30Solano County resident Princess Washington is suspicious of California Forever's plans.
31Washington is the acting mayor of Suisun City, in central Solano.
32She says many people who live in the area do not want development.
33They want to keep the area close to Travis Air Force Base open.
34She said she is concerned that the Flannery group wants to create a "city for the elite" by falsely saying they plan to build low cost homes.
35She wondered why the group does not want to transform cities that already exist.
36"The better thing would be to approach our city leaders and work with us within our city boundaries. Not to create a new city."
37Flannery also faced anger earlier this year when it opened a court case against a group of landowners.
38Flannery said the land owners were working together to make sure they sold only at high prices.
39Other residents say they became worried just recently, when the group sent out a survey.
40It asked the community about its level of support for "a major new project ... with tens of thousands of new homes."
41Representative Thompson says he is not sure Sramek and the other investors understood Solano County or its values.
42He said Sramek thinks his financial expertise will help the developers push the project forward faster than other California homebuilders.
43"He doesn't have a plan, he's not there yet," Thompson said.
44Many homebuilders say California is a difficult place to do business because there are many rules for the industry to follow.
45Hoffman and Andreessen did not respond to emailed requests for comment, nor did Jobs through her business Emerson Collective.
46Project developers said they will protect the military base and farmers who want to keep farming on their parcels.
47I'm Dan Friedell. And I'm Caty Weaver.
1A group of technology investors recently released its plans to create a new "green" city between San Francisco and Sacramento in California. 2The group's name is California Forever. It posted the plans on its website of the same name. The leader is Jan Sramek, a former trader for the financial services company Goldman Sachs. 3California Forever has purchased about $800 million of land in Solano County. The county includes small cities, many farms, and an American military base. 4The area is about 100 kilometers from San Francisco and 50 kilometers from the state capital of Sacramento. About 450,000 people live in the county. The cost of a mid-level home is around $600,000 while homes closer to San Francisco can be two or three times more. Housing supply is one of the greatest concerns in California, and those who work as schoolteachers, nurses or police officers cannot live close to where they work. 5California Forever's announcement opened with this message, "Starting a conversation about eastern Solano County. A chance for a new community, good paying local jobs, solar farms and open space." 6The post includes a lot of information about the land purchases and the group's ideas. The website includes drawings of new homes, farms, fields with solar panels, people sitting in boats and fishing and eating meals in a central city area. 7The investment group has purchased 202 square kilometers of land since 2018. Among the investors are business leaders Laurene Powell Jobs, tech investor Marc Andreessen and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. California Forever's post reported that 97 percent of its investors are American. There had been some concerns that the investment group was from outside of the U.S. 8The project sounds good to the investors, but local leaders and residents are not sure they agree. 9To start with, many people are upset with the group's secrecy. The investors made the purchases under the name "Flannery Associates LLC." 10Mike Thompson represents the area in the lower house of the U.S. Congress. He said the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been working to learn who was behind the land purchases. 11"Their secrecy has caused a lot of problems, a lot of time and a lot of expense," Thompson said. 12The investors say they needed to keep their identities secret until they had enough land. Now that they are discussing the project, they say they want to have conversations with the residents of Solano. The group started by sending a survey to homeowners. 13The survey asked residents about what they want for the future of Solano County. Residents' answers included lower cost of living, more good jobs, as well as improved schools and safety from crime. 14Solano County resident Princess Washington is suspicious of California Forever's plans. Washington is the acting mayor of Suisun City, in central Solano. She says many people who live in the area do not want development. They want to keep the area close to Travis Air Force Base open. 15She said she is concerned that the Flannery group wants to create a "city for the elite" by falsely saying they plan to build low cost homes. 16She wondered why the group does not want to transform cities that already exist. 17"The better thing would be to approach our city leaders and work with us within our city boundaries. Not to create a new city." 18Flannery also faced anger earlier this year when it opened a court case against a group of landowners. Flannery said the land owners were working together to make sure they sold only at high prices. 19Other residents say they became worried just recently, when the group sent out a survey. It asked the community about its level of support for "a major new project ... with tens of thousands of new homes." 20Representative Thompson says he is not sure Sramek and the other investors understood Solano County or its values. 21He said Sramek thinks his financial expertise will help the developers push the project forward faster than other California homebuilders. 22"He doesn't have a plan, he's not there yet," Thompson said. 23Many homebuilders say California is a difficult place to do business because there are many rules for the industry to follow. 24Hoffman and Andreessen did not respond to emailed requests for comment, nor did Jobs through her business Emerson Collective. 25Project developers said they will protect the military base and farmers who want to keep farming on their parcels. 26I'm Dan Friedell. And I'm Caty Weaver. 27Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by The Associated Press. 28_________________________________________________ 29Words in This Story 30resident -n. a person who lives in a region, city; a home or land owner 31expense -n. money spent to do business or work or to purchase something 32survey -n. a group of questions asked of many people in order to get the public's opinion about a topic 33elite -adj. at the highest level 34transform -v. to change something into something else 35approach -v. to come to a person and ask for something or to make an introduction 36We want to hear from you. Do you think a new city will be built on the California farmland some day?