Flannery Associates hints it’ll build a new CITY on 52,000 acres it’s bought up around California’s Travis Air Force Base – but Fairfield Mayor Catherine Moy says she doesn’t know who’s behind firm
A secret group that bought 52,000 acres of land around a California air base has sent out a survey to locals to gauge support for a mysterious “new town of thousands of homes.”
The latest development in the shadowy takeover surrounding Travis Air Force Base comes as Congressman John Garamendi warns that the anonymous group of investors known as Flannery Associates could pose a risk to national security.
Meanwhile, local mayor Catherine Moy said she knows nothing about the group — or who sent the survey to Fairfield residents by text, phone and online.
Public records show that since 2018, Flannery Associates has invested more than $800 million in land around the air force base, which is next to the city in Solano County, 50 miles northeast of San Francisco.
Families who owned the land previously said they didn’t want to sell it, and the duplicitous investors bought it at hugely inflated prices.
A secret group that bought 52,000 acres of land around a California air base has now sent out a survey to locals gauging support for a mysterious “new town of thousands of homes.” Representative John Garamendi, D-California. (pictured) says the group poses a national security risk
Local mayor Catherine Moy said she knows nothing about Flannery Associates — and their poll of Fairfield residents on proposals to build a new town came as a surprise to officials
Public records show that since 2018, ‘Flannery Associates’ has invested more than $800 million in approximately 52,000 acres of land around the Travis Air Force base
This week, officials confirmed that residents of the 120,000-resident city of Fairfield were sent a survey from a polling website via text message, while others said they had been called.
The research is extensive and appears to offer a first glimpse of what Flannery Associates plans to do with the land in the Bay Area.
It presents a vision for a new city with a ‘student city feel’, consisting of new schools, housing and restaurants, and an emphasis on green transport.
According to the poll, the idea could be bolstered by a vote in Solano County next year SFGate who received screenshots of the survey.
“This project includes a new city with tens of thousands of new homes, a large solar energy park, orchards with more than a million new trees and more than ten thousand hectares of new parks and open space,” the study explains.
It then presents a list of proposals for financing and operating the new city, asking Solano County residents to choose which would convince them to support the plans.
Their options range from “much more likely” to support the new city, to “no impact on support.”
Proposals include giving local people priority and down payment assistance with the purchase or lease of homes, and the replacement of the current aqueduct with a modernized version.
Other proposals included that the city’s construction be funded entirely by private sector money while being led by “a group of architects and planners interested in building livable and sustainable communities – not the typical developers.”
But residents are not convinced. One resident, George Kennedy, told NBC Bay Area, “It just doesn’t pass the smell test for me.”
Officials agree — with the mayor and area congressman expressing concern about the possibility of whoever is behind Flannery Associates using their territory for air base interference.
“We’ve protected the land around Travis Air Force Base,” Mayor Moy of Fairfield told NBC Bay Area.
“It’s over 50,000 acres — they’re now the largest landowner in Solano County. They (Flannery Associates) want to build a new city, but they still haven’t spoken to anyone here.
“They have land enough for a city, but they face a battle… I ask them to call me, let’s talk. This is not the way to make friends.’
Travis Air Force Base, about 50 miles northeast of San Francisco, is a strategically important base that serves as a “gateway” to the Pacific Ocean
The base houses large transport aircraft used for refueling smaller aircraft and shipping aid and ammunition around the world – including to Ukraine via Poland
John Garamendi, 78, former Democratic representative for the region, previously described the air base as a “essential gateway to the Pacific Ocean” and a conduit for “much of the munitions passing through Poland to Ukraine.”
It is also the busiest transit airport for the United States Air Force. Garamendi said the FBI and the Treasury Department are now involved in investigations into the new neighbors, which he believes have ties to China.
The Congressman for California’s 8th District told NBC Bay Area, “The core question is, who the hell are these people? We still don’t know.
“It’s very concerning: The land they’ve bought is right up against the fence on three sides of the base and positions anyone who’s there in a place to gain intelligence or information, or potentially disrupt operations.”
Garamendi said it would be “definitely possible” for “an enemy” to “monitor communications, listen in on communications or possibly disrupt the flow of equipment” from the adjacent lot.
“It’s very worrying that the land they bought is right up against the fence,” he said.
Garamendi previously said families who sold their land to Flannery told him they didn’t want to sell it in the first place.
While there is no evidence that Flannery has any ties to China, the congressman said he has “deep suspicions,” in part because the acquisition is reminiscent of a much smaller purchase by China-based food maker Fufeng Group last year.
John Garamendi, 78, a former Democratic representative for the region, said the FBI and the Treasury Department are now involved in investigations into the new neighbors, who he believes have ties to China.
In North Dakota, land purchased by the Chinese Fufeng Group is 20 minutes, approximately 26 miles, from Grand Forks Air Force Base
The mystery surrounding Travis is reminiscent of last year’s much smaller purchase of 300 acres of farmland in North Dakota by a company with ties to China.
Fufeng Group purchased 300 acres of farmland in North Dakota just minutes from another air force base, raising the suspicions of military officers, national security experts and lawmakers.
It planned to build a corn mill on its new land in Grand Forks, just 20 minutes from Grand Forks Air Force Base, which houses some of the country’s most sensitive drone technology.
A 2019 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that China owned at least 192,000 acres of U.S. farmland worth more than $1.9 billion.
For example, while Canada owns much more U.S. farmland, a 2018 USDA report found that Chinese farm holdings in the U.S. and other provinces had increased tenfold since 2009.
A lawyer representing Flannery has said the group is controlled by US citizens and 97 percent of its capital comes from US investors – with the remaining investment coming from British and Irish citizens.
Nevertheless, after eight months of investigations, the Air Force’s Foreign Investment Risk Review Office has still not been able to identify a single person as part of the group.