Mystery group purchases 50,000+ acres in Solano County. Why it’s raising federal concerns

AENN

It’s been a years-long process and now Flannery Associates, LLC owns over 50,000 acres in Solano County. The land – which Flanner started purchasing around 2018 – remains undeveloped, making leaders uncomfortable as they try to understand who is behind the massive land purchase and the reasoning. Rio Vista Mayor Ronald Kott says that it’s especially concerning because Flannery purchases surround their city and it limits anything they can do in terms of expansion without addressing their property.

Mayor of Fairfield, Catherine Moy

“They were making offers on agricultural land way above market rate and they were offering very generous lease terms to the sellers,” added Kott regarding how suspicious the purchases were made. According to multiple officials, in cases where landowners don’t want to sell their land to them, Flannery is suing them for a ‘constraint of trade,’ which is making some landowners either sell their properties or pay tens of thousands of dollars as they lawyer up to protect their land. Flannery owns between 30 to 40 acres of land within Rio Vista city limits and while it has yet to have any development, it may soon change. The purchased land stretches between Dixon and Fairfield.