Flannery Associates, an unnamed investment group, has purchased 52 thousand acres of Solano County’s 530 thousand acres. Most alarmingly, this group has purchased land around the Travis Air Force Base in California - the land acquired is also a part of what’s known as the “Gateway of the Pacific.” Flannery had disclosed that they intended to buy large amounts of agricultural land to grow new crops and diversify with renewable energy sources, such as wind turbines. This prospect confuses locals, as they have reported that the land purchased is “dry farmland.” Flannery disclosed they were planning to lease a “substantial portion” of the land to olive growers; portions of the land in question for lease run along Travis Air Force base.
The question of “who owns the investment group?” is being looked into by the Air Force’s ‘Foreign Investment Risk Review Office’ and local reps in the area have asked the ‘Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.’ (CFIUS - an arm of the Treasury Department) to investigate the matter. With CFIUS’s involvement, the hope is CFIUS could subpoena Flannery to gain more information on the backers. However, this authority has not historically been conducted, which may mean a subpoena from CFIUS will not happen.
Flannery Associates says it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Flannery Holdings (an LLC registered in Delaware). LLCs registered in Delaware do not have to disclose the identity of their owners publicly. Flannery has also told the USDA that its holdings do not need to be registered in Solano because no foreign person “holds any significant interest or substantial control.” The attorney for the group has disclosed that 97% of the company has backing from U.S. investors, with 3% coming from other investors that are “British and Irish.”
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