On Friday, news surfaced that the Air Force has been puzzled over a billion-dollar real estate purchased near a secure California Air Force base. They’ve been digging for answers for eight months, but the big question remains: who’s behind this giant deal?
A company named Flannery Associates is in the spotlight of the Air Force’s Foreign Investment Risk Review Office. They’ve scooped up over 52,000 acres of California farmland. Some of these lands are right next to Travis Air Force Base. The company insists that most of it is American-owned, with little money from Ireland and Britain. But local officials, lawmakers, and national agencies are still scratching their heads, trying to solve the Flannery puzzle.
A person who works for the company said that everyone is wrong if they think the company bought the land because it’s near the Air Force base.
Information from the county and public records show Flannery has bought the most land in Solano County in the last five years.
Congressman John Garamendi, who represents the area where Flannery is busy buying land, admitted that no one knows much about Flannery. He finds it odd that they’re buying lots of land near the Travis fence. This is raising some eyebrows.
Garamendi, along with Congressman Mike Thompson, another California Democrat, has asked for an investigation into these land purchases. A team of advisors from several national agencies, called CFIUS, could do the investigation. They have the power to look into and stop foreign purchases that could be a risk to the safety of our country.
Most of the land Flannery owns is in Solano County’s farm zones. Some of the land even has wind turbines on it.
Bill Emlen, an administrator in Solano County, shared that county officials are also worried. They’ve been trying to find out who owns Flannery but haven’t had any luck.
County Supervisor Mitch Mashburn wonders how Flannery plans to make money from all this land. He pointed out that Flannery hasn’t tried to work with local officials to develop the land. This just makes the billion-dollar investment even more mysterious.
