California tech billionaire wants to build new city from scratch – Robb Report

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A group of bigwigs has big plans for a California county.

A group of tech billionaires who secretly amassed land in the prairie bordering San Francisco Bay, known as California Forever, unveiled plans Wednesday to build a new city. The group also reported that it plans to begin collecting signatures for a ballot initiative that would pave the way for a metropolis in Solano County. Los Angeles Times.

According to the proposal, the community would include tens of thousands of new homes, as well as parks, bike lanes, open space and a solar farm. The organization also aims to make the city walkable and powered by clean energy, and the initiative will create at least 15,000 jobs and provide down payments on housing, scholarships and other benefits. It expects to provide $500 million to provide health benefits to residents. $200 million to revitalize the downtown cores of existing Solano County communities like Rio Vista.

To achieve this goal, California Forever members will need to convince Solano County voters to approve the idea. And that's just the first hurdle. Permits from federal, state, and local authorities are also required before making changes to the land.

Naturally, creating your own city is not an easy task. But it could be especially difficult for the group, which includes LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, and John and Patrick Collison, who founded payment processing company Stripe. be. The project itself was shrouded in mystery for many years, during which time an LLC called Flannery Associates purchased thousands of acres of farmland and pasture in Solano County for a total of more than $800 million. The newspaper said the LLC initially refused to disclose its backers or explain why it was spending millions of dollars on land. LA Timesbut the tech giant behind the project was eventually revealed.

The first phase of the group's public campaign began this week, when California Forever founder and former Goldman Sachs trader Jan Slamek spoke at a Veterans Association meeting touting the new city as a “great place for everyone in the county.” It all started when I vowed to be a good neighbor.Hall in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta town of Rio Vista Los Angeles Times report.

In theory, the metropolis would be located on 18,000 acres just west of Rio Vista, with a potential population of “several hundred thousand people.” The area is reportedly home to about 10,000 people along the Sacramento River, but the new city will be separated from the rest of town by 712 acres of parks, sports facilities and open space. Sramek said the project, once completed, would attract “tens of billions of dollars” in investment.

Critics of the project are not convinced of its success. “I don't think we need housing on farmland,” said Joe Ferrer, former president of the Solano County chapter of the Sierra Club, which has expressed opposition to the idea. State Sen. Bill Dodd, who represents the area, is “not sold” on the community, the paper said. LA Times.

But experts say cities are still a long way off. Considering the necessary approvals and other potential issues, if all goes well, the earliest construction could start would be in 2026.