Tesla owner and Twitter CEO Elon Musk is reportedly carving out a slice of the Lone Star State for his own corporate use.
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According to a report from The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Musk is in the process of planning to build a town on a portion of the thousands of acres of newly purchased “pasture and farmland,” in his possession near the state’s capital. Musk reportedly met with landowners and real estate agents to detail his vision to build a “Texas utopia,” along the Colorado River for his employees to live and work. The town, dubbed “Snailbrook,” will exist about 35 miles outside of Austin near the new construction of Boring and SpaceX facilities. Executives at Musk’s tunneling outfit Boring are reportedly considering incorporating the future town in Bastrop County in order to reserve the ability to set regulations for their own municipality. During a company-wide meeting last year, Boring president Steve Davis reportedly suggested there would be an election held to determine who would become the mayor of the city.
Elon Musk reportedly taking steps toward building a town near Austin in Bastrop County https://t.co/zS30AlYfXR via @houstonchron
— Melissa Aguilar (@MelissAguilar) March 10, 2023
Musk is reportedly planning to offer rental housing in Snailbrook for well below the typical market value for rent in the region. For perspective, a two or three-bedroom home in Bastrop County averages about $2,200 whereas homes of the same layout in Snailbrook will apparently be on the market for around $800. However, residents of the town would have only 30 days to vacate the homes they occupy in the event they are laid off or quit. Snailbrook, which bears its name from Boring’s company mascot, already has several modular homes and amenities such as an outdoor gym, a pool, a tennis court and a sign that reads “welcome, snailbrook, tx, est. 2021.”
Plans for the town obtained by WSJ reveal about 110 homes are set to be constructed. However, Texas law requires an area to be populated with at least 201 residents before it can be incorporated. It would appear as though Musk has the room to add additional homes, though, as it has been reported that he purchased at least 3,500 acres in the last three years and could control as much as 6,000 acres in the immediate Austin area.
Company towns are not a new occurrence, and according to The Smithsonian, countless companies built towns throughout the 19th Century amid the growth of coal, steel, and textile industries. Companies reportedly would require their workers to live in the towns in basic housing and send their kids to company-owned schools with curriculum dictated by the organization’s leadership.
It’s also worth noting that Musk won’t be the only billionaire executive to own a town in Texas should his plans for Snailbrook fully materialize. In 2021, the same year Musk moved from California to Texas, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban bought the town of Mustang for an undisclosed amount. In comparison, though, Snailbrook dwarves Mustang, which is a mere 77 acres in total.