The mysterious company that has been buying up large swathes of land near Travis Air Force Base in Solano County in Northern California has unveiled a new website detailing plans to build a new metropolitan city.
The Delaware-registered firm, Flannery Associates LLC, has spent nearly $1 billion purchasing more than 50,000 acres of land surrounding Travis Air Force Base since 2018, public records show.
California Forever is the parent company of Flannery Associates, according to its new website.
It was founded in 2017 by CEO Jan Sramek, a former Goldman Sachs trader, and is backed by billionaires including Marc Andreessen and Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
“Over the last few years, Flannery has purchased over 50,000 acres in Solano County. To date, our company has been quiet about our activities. This has, understandably, created interest, concern, and speculation,” the website states. “Now that we’re no longer limited by confidentiality, we are eager to begin a conversation about the future of Solano County a conversation with all of you.”
The website goes on to state that Solano County, like much of California, “faces many challenges, but also possesses countless opportunities.”
Over the past few years, California Forever has completed surveys and interviews with about 2,000 residents of Solano County—located between Sacramento, San Francisco, and Napa Valley, with a population of about 450,000—and their voices, according to the company, “were clear.”
“Residents want more opportunities to buy homes in safe, walkable communities. Good paying local jobs, so they can both live and work in the county,” the website states. “Better funding to improve schools, promote public safety, and reduce homelessness, as well as resources to invest in infrastructure for transportation, water, and wildfire protection.”
That is why, according to California Forever, it has raised capital from a string of investors including Mr. Andreessen and California investment firm Andreessen Horowitz, and Ms. Jobs, as well as Patrick and John Collison, Chris Dixon, John Doerr, Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, Reid Hoffman, and Michael Moritz, to build the new community.
