Mysterious Company Pays Nearly $1 Billion for Land Near US Air Force Base, Power Grid

A U.S. Air Force C-5 Galaxy and a C-17 Globemaster sit on the tarmac at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Calif., on July 17, 2008. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

A mystery company’s purchase of large swaths of land near a United States Air Force base and key locations along the West Coast’s electrical grid has raised red flags about national security.

U.S. Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee readiness panel, wants to find out more about the buyer, Flannery Associates LLC.

The LLC is registered in Delaware but based in Folsom, California, where it lists a P.O. Box as its address at a mailbox rental center. Its employees are listed as based in the Southern California city of Glendale.

“They have surrounded one of the most important air bases on the West Coast,” Mr. Garamendi told NewsNation in an interview. “If anything happened in the Pacific with China, this base would be the way in which the U.S. Air Force and military would transit across the Pacific.”

Flannery has invested about $800 million in about 55,000 acres of land surrounding the Travis Air Force Base since 2018, according to public records.

A 79th Air Refueling Squadron KC-10A Extender aircraft flies over a mountain range near Travis Air Force Base. USAF

Mr. Garamendi, who was unavailable for comment, has raised concerns about the potential for espionage and other national security risks over land purchases near U.S. Air Force bases and key properties along the West Coast electrical power grid.

The company, which Garamendi said paid five to 10 times what the land was worth, sued several landowners in California’s Solano County alleging they conspired and colluded to “price fix, and illegally overcharge” it.

“During the five years that Flannery has been investing in this area, not a single other buyer has emerged who would offer even a fraction of the prices and terms that Flannery was offering,” the company’s attorneys wrote in its lawsuit filed in May in federal court in the Eastern District of California.

The approximate 140 properties in question host several utility-scale commercial wind farms, transmission lines, substations, and other energy infrastructure, as well as numerous environmental conservation and mitigation projects,” according to the lawsuit.

The company could not be reached for comment, nor could any of its attorneys.

However, it stated in a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “No foreign person or group holds any significant interest of substantial control over Flannery, either now or at the time of any land purchase,” according to NewsNation.

Mr. Garamendi, who represents the congressional district where Travis Air Force Base is located—near Fairfield, California—alerted the U.S. Air Force about the land purchases, which has led to a federal investigation.

In this handout from the U.S. Air Force, personnel with the 60th Air Mobility Wing prepare to leave Travis Air Force Base on an emergency rescue mission to the Pacific coast of Russia in Fairfield, Calif., on Aug. 5, 2005. David W. Cushman/U.S. Air Force via Getty Images

So far, the probe has produced sparse information about Flannery Associates and its intentions for the land, he said in the NewsNation interview.

He suggested the land purchases, because of their proximity to the Air Force base and power grid installations, could potentially open the door to espionage or other nefarious activities by foreign adversaries.

Mr. Garamendi also wants to know why the company paid such a high price for the land, which is zoned agricultural.  

The purchases, he said, went unnoticed at first but have now raised eyebrows.  

Several ranchers didn’t want to sell their family heritage but some couldn’t afford lawyers to defend themselves in federal court and ended up selling the land, Garamendi said.

He additionally told ABC7 News San Francisco he has “reason to be concerned” when asked if the company has ties to China.

“I have every reason in the world to believe that this land is in an area in which spy operations, or any other nefarious activity could take place and could detrimentally impact the ability of Travis Air Force Base to operate in a moment of national emergency,” he told the news outlet.

Mr. Garamendi also questioned the need for the shroud of secrecy around the company.

“What’s going on? If you’re not a nefarious operation, why are you keeping it secret?” he asked.

Meanwhile, NewsNation reported a few months ago that Grand Forks, North Dakota residents pressured local officials to shut down a China-based company called Fufeng Group that sought to build a corn mill on 300 acres of land it had purchased about 12 miles from the Grand Forks Air Force Base.

Chinese electric vehicle battery maker, Gotion, which proposed building a plant in Green Charter Township, Michigan, is also facing similar pushback from residents, NewsNation reported.

Two United States Air Force KC-10 Extender aerial refuelers sit on the tarmac at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, Calif., on Oct. 5, 2001. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Another company, Microvast, which also makes electric vehicle batteries and claims it is not owned by or linked to China, is facing resistance in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The U.S. Senate Committee on Science and Natural Resources has raised concerns the company’s CEO is connected to the Chinese Communist Party, according to NewsNation.

In the meantime, Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party Chairman Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) introduced bipartisan legislation in April to strengthen and expand protections around national security sites, critical infrastructure, and farmland.

The proposed legislation would give the House Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States greater jurisdiction over land purchases, to guard against foreign adversary purchases near sensitive sites.

“Protecting national security and food security go hand in hand in our region – which is why it is vital to know who owns land around national security sites,” Mr. Thompson said in a July 12 media release.

Mr. Gallagher echoed his sentiments.

“The United States cannot allow foreign adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party and its proxies to acquire real estate near sensitive sites like military bases or telecom infrastructure,” he said.

Mr. Garamendi stated in the release the recent land purchases near the base by unknown investors raise serious questions and concerns.

“Though Flannery Associates claims that it is not controlled by foreign entities, they have shockingly failed to provide any proof to local and federal officials,” he said in the release.

Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii) said when the legislation was introduced, China’s government has an alarming history of leveraging foreign investment to gain access to sensitive information.

“This type of foreign espionage is a serious threat to national security. This bill will help close the gaps in our oversight of foreign purchases and their use of agricultural land, especially near our military bases and training sites,” he said.