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By Janie Har

The Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO 鈥� Silicon Valley billionaires behind a secretive $800 million land-buying spree in Northern California have finally released some details about their plans for a new green city, but they still must win over skeptical voters and local leaders.

After years of ducking scrutiny, Jan Sramek, the former Goldman Sachs trader spearheading the effort, launched a Thursday called 鈥淐alifornia Forever.鈥� The site billed the project as 鈥渁 chance for a new community, good paying local jobs, solar farms, and open space鈥� in Solano, a rural county between San Francisco and Sacramento that is now home to 450,000 people.

Sramek also began meeting with key politicians representing the area who have been trying unsuccessfully for years to find out who was behind the mysterious Flannery Associates LLC as it bought up huge swaths of land and became the largest single landholder in the county.

An all-star roster of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and venture capitalists are backing the project; they include philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen.聽The New York Times聽first reported on the group鈥檚 investors and plans.

California Forever, the parent company of Flannery, since 2018 has purchased more than 78 square miles of farmland in Solano County, largely in the southeastern portion. Parcels stretch from Fairfield to Rio Vista. According to the website, Sramek fell in love with the area during fishing trips and he and his wife recently purchased a home in the county for their growing family.

The project team last month issued a poll to residents to gauge support for 鈥渁 new city with tens of thousands of new homes,鈥� solar energy farms and new parks funded entirely by the private sector.

But to build anything resembling a city on what is now farmland, the group must first convince Solano County voters to approve a ballot initiative to allow for urban uses on that land. It has existed as protected farmland since 1984. Local and federal officials still have questions about the group鈥檚 intentions.

Two area congressmen who sought for years to find out whether foreign adversaries or investors were behind the buying spree around a U.S. Air Force base vital to national security and the local economy are furious that Flannery kept its identity hidden for so long. The website says 97 percent of its funding is from U.S. investors and the rest is from the United Kingdom and Ireland.

鈥淭he FBI, the Department of Treasury, everyone has been doing work trying to figure out who these people are,鈥� U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, who represents much of the county, said last week after meeting with Sramek. 鈥淭heir secrecy has caused a lot of problems, a lot of time, and a lot of expense.鈥�

Secrecy was required until enough land was purchased to avoid short-term speculation, the investment group said. But it indicated that it is now ready to hear from Solano households via a mailed survey and creation of a community advisory board. Past surveys showed parents were most concerned about their children鈥檚 future, the website said.

鈥淚nstead of watching our kids leave, we have the opportunity to build a new community that attracts new employers, creates good paying local jobs, builds homes in walkable neighborhoods, leads in environment stewardship, and fuels a growing tax base to serve the county at large,鈥� it said.

California is in dire need of more housing, especially affordable homes for teachers, firefighters, service providers, and hospitality workers. But cities and counties can鈥檛 figure out where to build as established neighborhoods argue against new housing that they say would congest their roads and spoil their quiet way of life.

In many ways, Solano County is ideal for development. It is 60 miles northeast of San Francisco and 35 miles southwest of Sacramento. Solano County homes are among the most affordable in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a median sales price of $600,000 last month.

But Princess Washington, mayor pro tempore of Suisun City, said residents deliberately decided to protect open space and keep the area around Travis Air Force Base free of encroachment given its significance.

She鈥檚 suspicious that the group鈥檚 real purpose is 鈥渢o create a city for the elite鈥� under the guise of more housing.

鈥淓conomic blight is everywhere,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o why do you need to spend upwards of a billion dollars to create a brand new city when you have all these other things that can be achieved throughout the Bay Area?鈥�

Flannery further infuriated locals in May when it sued several landowners in court, accusing them of conspiring to fix prices for their properties. The company disclosed it had purchased or was under contract to buy about 140 properties for more than $800 million.

Then last month, residents began receiving a push poll gauging voter support for 鈥渁 major new project鈥� that would include 鈥渁 new city with tens of thousands of new homes.鈥� The poll asked if they would be more likely to support the project if county residents were given priority and financial assistance to lease or purchase one of the new homes.

Thompson was unimpressed after meeting with Sramek, saying that the developer was vague on details and failed to display an understanding or appreciation of the county or its values.

Sramek, asked how he would help residents finance new homes, told Thompson he planned to use 鈥渁ll of his knowledge as a finance guy鈥� to generate savings, Thompson said. Development in California is convoluted, but Thompson said Sramek told him they鈥檙e hoping for expedited permitting 鈥渂ecause their project is so good and their intentions are so great.鈥�

鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 have a plan; he鈥檚 not there yet,鈥� Thompson said.

U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, whose district includes Travis and immediate areas around it, said base and county officials reached out roughly five years ago for help in figuring out who was buying up land. Garamendi was appalled to learn who was backing the project.

鈥淵ou big, wealthy Silicon Valley billionaires, you鈥檙e party to all of this,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is the kind of people you are? This is how you want to operate? What they鈥檝e managed to do is to totally poison the well.鈥�

Neither Hoffman nor Andreessen responded to emails requesting comment, nor did Jobs through her business Emerson Collective.

Project developers said they will protect the military base and indicated that farmers who want to keep farming on their parcels will be able to do so.

Flannery has purchased virtually all the land surrounding the small city of Rio Vista, Mayor Ron Kott said.

He suspects seniors, who make up half of the city鈥檚 10,000 residents, won鈥檛 appreciate the added congestion and noise, but others might like the improved medical care, nightlife and shopping that a sophisticated city nearby might bring.

鈥淚f it鈥檚 done correctly, I think there鈥檚 a lot of opportunities for the county,鈥� Kott said. 鈥淭heir tax revenue base will increase quite a bit, so there鈥檚 going to be a big windfall from that. Property values would probably go up around here as well even further. And so I think from those perspectives it鈥檚 good.

鈥淏ut again, I think you鈥檙e giving up a quality of lifestyle that鈥檚 kind of unique to this area.鈥�

Editor鈥檚 note: AP video journalist Terry Chea contributed to this story from Rio Vista.