US officials are investigating major land acquisition deals near a US Air Force base northeast of San Francisco, fearing that “foreign interests” may be behind Flannery Associates, which bought the site. It has been reported The Wall Street Gazette (WSJ).
According to the publication, Flannery Associates has spent nearly $1 billion purchasing more than 21,000 hectares of land (300 lots in total) over the past five years, making it the largest landowner in Solano County, California.
Some of this land is located near Travis Air Force Base, one of the largest US military bases on the West Coast, according to the newspaper. There are more than 7,000 active military personnel in its territory.
California Representative John Garamendi told the WSJ that California officials have been trying to identify the eventual beneficiaries of Flannery Associates for eight months, but have so far been unsuccessful. According to the interlocutor of the publication, the company’s large acquisitions do not make sense to anyone in the region, and the purchase of plots “up to the fence in Travis” raises serious questions.
It is noted that Garamendi and Representative Mike Thompson have submitted a motion to the Foreign Investment Committee in the United States that could advise the president to block or cancel foreign purchases for security reasons.
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