Tech Billionaires Buy 55,000 Acres To Build New City Near San Francisco

A group of Silicon Valley heavyweights want to build a new eco-friendly and technologically advanced city in northern California.

The plan's architects include LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman and Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Job's and the founder of the philanthropic group Emerson Collective. Other investors include Striper co-founders Patrick and John Collison and Nat Friedman, the former CEO of GitHub, the New York Times reported.

Together, they and others formed Flannery Associates to acquire 55,000 acres of agricultural and empty real estate in Solano County near San Francisco. The land purchase cost more than $800 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Jan Sramek, a 36-year-old former trader at Goldman Sachs, is leading the project and intends to build the new city between Fairfield and Rio Vista, according to information sent to Solano County residents last week. Residents received anonymous text surveys asking for their opinion on the creation of a city with “tens of thousands of new homes,” with a large solar energy farm, orchards and open space, according to screenshots viewed by the Journal.

Developing a new city in the area would require a county vote, since the land is currently zoned for agricultural use, not residential or commercial use. The area lies close to Travis Air Force Base, and its vast size makes the tech billionaire collective the largest landowner in San Francisco.

Flannery Associates had been quiet about its backers but has grown more public amid concerns raised by local politicians over its financing and ownership, as well as the proximity to the military facility. A lawsuit filed in May by the company also prompted lawmakers including Reps. John Garamendi and Mike Thompson to request a federal investigate into the real estate acquisitions, hoping to learn the identity of the group’s backers.

“We are proud to partner on a project that aims to deliver good-paying jobs, affordable housing, clean energy, sustainable infrastructure, open space and a healthy environment to residents of Solano County,” Brian Brokaw, a spokesman for the group, said in a statement. “We are excited to start working with residents and elected officials, as well as with Travis Air Force Base, on making that happen.”