Current:Home > MyBillionaire backers of new California city reveal map and details of proposed development-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Billionaire backers of new California city reveal map and details of proposed development
View Date:2024-12-23 11:27:20
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Promoters of a secretive Silicon Valley-backed ballot initiative to build a new city on farmland between Sacramento and San Francisco are releasing more details of their plan as they submit paperwork Wednesday to qualify for the November election.
California Forever, the company that stealthily snapped up more than $800 million of Solano County land in recent years, envisions a new community on roughly 30 square miles (75 square kilometers) between Travis Air Force Base and the tiny city of Rio Vista, according to a presentation by the group.
The development would start with nearly 20,000 homes for 50,000 residents. It could grow to 400,000 people — which is nearly the current population of Solano County — but only if the project creates at least 15,000 jobs that pay above average wages, the group’s backers say. Plans call for a medium-density downtown with rowhouses and apartment buildings, and jobs, schools, bars and restaurants and grocery stores all within walking distance.
But none of that can happen without approval from county voters, who in 1984 backed protections against turning farmland into urban space. That’s why Jan Sramek, CEO and founder of California Forever, and the project’s backers are turning to the ballot. He’ll speak about the project and the proposed ballot initiative Wednesday, and the group must collect about 13,000 signatures from county voters to place it on the November ballot.
California and the San Francisco Bay Area are desperate for more housing, especially affordable homes for teachers, firefighters, police and other municipal workers who make a city run.
Situated between the Bay Area and the state’s capital, Solano County is an attractive location for military contractors, agriculture technology and construction tech companies seeking to innovate, said Gabriel Metcalf, head of planning for California Forever.
Metcalf said if “we can provide companies with a pathway to growth, we think we’ll get some major employers creating jobs here that would otherwise go out of state, to places like Texas.”
Created in 2017, California Forever has purchased more than 78 square miles (202 square kilometers) of farmland in Solano County. The plan calls for $400 million to help Solano County residents buy homes in the proposed community.
But critics say existing cities such as Vallejo and Fairfield could use investment from Silicon Valley and they remain skeptical of Sramek and the project’s backers, who include philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen.
“This is a pipe dream,” said Democratic U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, who was furious with backers for their secrecy about property close to a U.S. Air Force base.
He said the proposed development, which he also was briefed on, makes no sense “in the middle of areas surrounded by wind farms, gas fields, endangered species, no water, no sanitation system and no road system let alone a highway system.”
veryGood! (33)
Related
- BITFII Introduce
- How social media is helping locate the missing after Helene | The Excerpt
- Wendy Williams Says It’s About Time for Sean Diddy Combs' Arrest
- Justice Department finds Georgia is ‘deliberately indifferent’ to unchecked abuses at its prisons
- After entire police force resigns in small Oklahoma town, chief blames leaders, budget cuts
- New Jersey offshore wind farm clears big federal hurdle amid environmental concerns
- Let All Naysayers Know: Jalen Milroe silences critics questioning quarterback ability
- California governor signs bill making insurance companies pay for IVF treatment
- Lee Zeldin, Trump’s EPA Pick, Brings a Moderate Face to a Radical Game Plan
- Rapper Chino XL's cause of death confirmed by family
Ranking
- Taylor Swift touches down in Kansas City as Chiefs take on Denver Broncos
- John Amos, 'Good Times' and 'Roots' trailblazer and 'Coming to America' star, dies at 84
- A chemical cloud moving around Atlanta’s suburbs prompts a new shelter-in-place alert
- US sanctions extremist West Bank settler group for violence against Palestinians
- Mississippi rising, Georgia falling in college football NCAA Re-Rank 1-134 after Week 11
- Dead inmate identified as suspect in 1995 disappearance of 6-year-old Morgan Nick
- After Helene’s destruction, a mountain town reliant on fall tourism wonders what’s next
- Ken Page, voice of Oogie Boogie in 'The Nightmare Before Christmas,' dies at 70
Recommendation
-
Benny Blanco Reveals Selena Gomez's Rented Out Botanical Garden for Lavish Date Night
-
7 Debate Questions about Climate Change and Energy for Pennsylvania’s Senate Candidates
-
Police officer fatally shoots man at a home, New Hampshire attorney general says
-
Woman who lost husband and son uses probate process to obtain gunman’s records
-
Bev Priestman fired as Canada women’s soccer coach after review of Olympic drone scandal
-
Bowl projections: College football Week 5 brings change to playoff field
-
LeBron, Bronny share the floor at Lakers media day, move closer to sharing court in NBA
-
Gossip Girl's Kelly Rutherford Shares Update on Life in Monaco After Years-Long Custody Battle