A new city in Solano County, built from the ground up and funded by Silicon Valley billionaires. That’s the plan California Forever, the parent company of Flannery Associates, unveiled Thursday on a new website.
The company has spent the last few years buying up nearly every bit of Solano County land around Travis Air Force Base to build that city on. It shared its vision for the future of the area with a number of renderings posted online.
The city would have thousands of new homes built in a European or Mediterranean architectural style. The renderings also depict scenic, hillside neighborhoods blending into the banks of the Sacramento rivers for bikers, kayakers, and fishers.
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On its website, California Forever said it planned to begin what it called a “conversation about the future of Solano County.”
Those conversations have already started among those observing the plan.
NBC Bay Area recently spoke with Congressman John Garamendi, who represents parts of Solano and Contra Costa counties, and who was not pleased with either the project or what the company is doing.
“These characters own all the land on three sides of Travis [Air Force Base]. And that’s one of the most important air bases in the continental United States. More material and personnel pass through that base than any other base,” he said, going on to add, “These characters have been engaged in despicable, secretive, terrible practices. They are actually suing farmers who refuse to sell their family heritage.”
Garamendi said he planned to meet with the group soon.
The group funding the project includes some high profile names such as Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Jobs, as well as venture capitalists Michael Moritz, Marc Andreeseen, and Chris Dixon. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman is also part of the group.
In the past few years, the group has purchased nearly a billion dollars’ worth of property near Travis Air Force Base and land owned by several farmers. California Forever said the project was a chance for a new community, good paying and local jobs, as well as a solar farm and open space.
