Katie Dowd, SFGATE
Since 2018, one company has been methodically buying up the available land around Travis Air Force Base. The transactions have caught the eye of the U.S. government — but no one can figure out who the mystery buyer actually is.
In early July, the Wall Street Journal reported that Flannery Associates has spent almost $1 billion acquiring land that surrounds the base. Despite being in touching distance to the edge of Fairfield’s urban center, the base itself is still mostly surrounded by agricultural land. Public records show Flannery Associates is now the biggest landowner in Solano County, with 52,000 acres acquired, the Journal reported. Most of the land the company has bought is south of the base, covering swaths of the agricultural and marshy area down to the Sacramento River in Rio Vista.
“Nobody can figure out who they are,” Rio Vista Mayor Ronald Kott told the Journal. “Whatever they’re doing — this looks like a very long-term play.”
Unsurprisingly, this has caught the attention of the military. According to Congressman John Garamendi, who represents California’s 8th District, government officials are unable to track down who makes up the Flannery group. Because the company is registered in Delaware, it does not need to disclose its business partners, a tactic commonly used by LLCs.
“Literally three sides of that base are totally controlled by the Flannery group,” Garamendi told ABC7. He called it “reason to be concerned.”
“Who are these people?” Garamendi added. “Where did they get the money where they could pay five to ten times the normal value that others would pay for this farmland?”
The Journal reported that Flannery Associates says 97% of its investors are American citizens and the remaining investors are in the U.K. and Ireland. The government and military investigation is ongoing into who bought the land and for what reason.
Construction began on Travis AFB during World War II, and it earned the moniker “Gateway to the Pacific” for its role as a major cargo and troop transport center on the West Coast. Today, it’s the largest employer in Solano County with over 13,000 employees.
Obvious guess: They’re expecting that base to expand, and to be able to sell land to the government at a premium.
Paranoid guess: They are spies looking for a cozy place to raise their spy babies.
I think your “obvious guess” makes the most sense to me. I do think it’s an odd way to invest money and wonder if the government will retaliate in some way against this group.
So, the air force, responsible for our national security, running norad and having military intelligence responsibilities and no doubt access to our alphabet agencies after 4.5 years cant properly conduct a property ownership search? We dont have a mechanism as a sovereign nation to know who is buying our sovereign soil? Im assuming this has to do with the transaction being hid behind multiple shell companies, laws carved out for wealthy landlords to operate outside the color of law. Anyhow, not a good look. But for one sweet moment shareholder profits were maximized.
Yep - that’s my guess. There are a few states where literally nobody involved with the actual company has to be listed on the documents filed with the state to create a LLC.
Related: this also helps with tax evasion and money laundering by people with dirty money overseas.
If it’s the ‘obvious guess’ couldn’t the feds take that land by eminent domain, whereby they’d be obligated to pay fair market value and the new owners would end up at a loss since they apparently overpaid for the land?
The military has huge amounts of money. Perhaps this company is betting on them just overpaying for the land instead of going the (presumably more annoying and slow) eminent domain route. Seems like a risky bet though.
Fun fact, Travis afb was first confirmed US covid (I believe a cruise ship got brought in and the passengers shipped up the delta).
Very odd.
Well fine time for them to notice!
