The Port of Seattle, Sea-Tac Airport and the Seattle Airport have been affected by a ‘possible hacking attack’

The Port of Seattle, which also operates the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, said it was hit with a “possible cyberattack” that appeared to affect websites and phone systems.

The port first noted the outages via social media on Saturday morning, with the airport then posting that it had “experienced certain system outages indicating a possible cyberattack.”

Late Saturday evening, the airport said it was still experiencing outages: “There is not an estimated time for return and Port teams continue to work to restore full service.” It also encouraged travelers to use airline apps to get their boarding passes and bag tags, and to allow extra time to reach their gates.

The Port of Seattle, including SEA Airport, continues to see system outages. There is not an estimated time for return and Port teams continue to work to restore full service. (Cont.)— Seattle-Tacoma Intl. Airport (@flySEA) August 25, 2024

As of Sunday morning Pacific time, the Port of Seattle’s public-facing web infrastructure, including its website, still appeared to be largely offline, per a TechCrunch review of its DNS records.

A TSA spokesperson told GeekWire that there was no impact on security operations. Earlier this year, the Biden Administration announced an executive order aimed at improving cybersecurity in ports.

This comes less than a month after a CrowdStrike software update caused a global IT meltdown that included flight cancellations and delays.

Additional reporting by Zack Whittaker

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Samsung is working on a double-foldable device and a rollable device

Samsung has two new foldable phones on the market in the form of the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the Galaxy Z Flip 6 – but it would seem there are even more form factors on the way, according to Samsung exec Chung Yi.Speaking at the the iMid 2024 conference (via PhoneArena), Yi said that “various form factor products, such as double-folding multi-foldables and rollables” are currently in development at Samsung.While no timetable was put on the launch of these devices, considering Samsung has been pioneering the foldable phone form factor, it’s likely that it’s also going to be one of the first to market with these other designs too.However, it would seem that Huawei will be the first to release a double-foldable (or triple-foldable, depending on whether you count the hinges or the screen panels): it has a handset that’s apparently coming out next month.A long time comingSamsung has already shown off rollable screens (Image credit: Samsung Display)This news will actually be no surprise to seasoned Samsung followers, not least because the company has a strong history of trying innovations and ideas before they become adopted by the mainstream – foldable phones being one example.We’ve already seen rollable displays demoed by Samsung Display, so we know the tech is in development. The question is how quickly it can be got ready for mass production at a price that isn’t going to be exorbitant.Previous rumors have suggested we might see a rollable phone as early as 2025, and while that might seem a bit optimistic as we approach the last third of 2024, these displays have now been in the works for several years.Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.Meanwhile, some other phone makers are still yet to commit to the idea of foldables. While rumors of a folding iPhone continue to appear now and again, it doesn’t look as though Apple will move away from the standard phone form factor for a while yet.You might also like

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Travly lets travelers submit videos for a chance to earn a 5% commission from hotel bookings

Travly is a new social-first discovery and hotel booking platform designed to cater to the growing number of travelers who rely on short-form video content for trip ideas. 

The platform features user-generated content that provides authentic reviews of hotels instead of generic information and often outdated images. Creators who submit videos of hotels have the chance to earn a 5% commission from bookings.

Co-founded by travel enthusiasts Zak Longo (CEO) and Mayur Patil (COO), Travly initially began as a travel network on Instagram and TikTok. In the summer of 2022, the duo acquired @Travel, building a social community of millions of followers across Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat. Longo and Patil run 45 channels in total, including @Cruises, @Hotels, @Resorts, and @Vacation on Instagram and TikTok. Collectively, the pages reach over 1 billion monthly views, they say. Travly also has an ambassador group of about 1,000 creators who help out with brand deals on its host of social media accounts. 

The company recently branched out to develop its own trip discovery product, using its insights to launch a video-focused booking platform and mobile app. Travly integrated with Booking.com to power its search capability, which features millions of hotels worldwide. 

Image Credits: Travly

“We were always like, ‘Okay, we need a product to go with this,’” Longo told TechCrunch. “So we put our heads together, and we were thinking, ‘Why don’t we do a booking platform?’ Because nowadays, we feel like the newer generation of travelers are using social media as a search tool … we could bridge the gap with our network and help people book the stuff they’re seeing on social media.” 

The platform is currently accepting video submissions, offering anyone with high-quality videos of hotels a 5% commission from all bookings done through the platform for that hotel. Travly only accepts one video per hotel and may replace it if it performs poorly. 

“We’re going to analyze whether a video doesn’t perform optimally for a hotel. We want to be fair to the hotel in that regard,” Longo said, explaining that Travly will consider factors like the average duration of the view or click-through rate. It may also swap out new and up-to-date videos if, for example, hotels offer new amenities they want to promote. 

Travly touts around 2,000 sign-ups and 500 video submissions so far.

Image Credits: Travly

Another way Travly stands out is its Destination Dupes feature. A playful spin on a makeup “dupe,” or close duplicate of a product, Travly compares luxurious travel destinations to more affordable ones that are similar in feel. This feature helps users not only save money but also discover hidden gems that offer a similar experience. For instance, it highlights the price difference between a hotel in London (~$325 per night) and one in Krakow, Poland (~$75 per night), offering a similar charm at a lower cost. Although it’s not a global cultural and financial capital like London, Krakow is known for its culture, cobblestone streets, and historic landmarks.

If users are still unsure where to travel next, they can click on the “Discover new directions” button to answer a series of questions and get a curated selection of ideas. For instance, if they want a lazy, low-budget holiday, Travly’s AI assistant pulls up hotels that fit the description.

In the future, Travly is set to expand its offerings, aiming to integrate more experiences into the platform. These include offering trip packages, restaurant reservations, and concert tickets, providing a comprehensive travel planning experience. In terms of additional revenue, the company is considering having ads on the platform as well.

With the creator economy estimated to be a $250 billion industry and the market expected to nearly double in size to $480 billion by 2027, other startups in the booking space are also tapping into the travel influencer trend. Plannin, a new travel booking platform founded by former Priceline executives, enables creators to monetize their hotel recommendations.

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Google

You’ll see from our full Google Pixel 9 review that we’re mostly very impressed with Google’s flagship phone, but we’re still discovering new features that the handset has to offer – including Adaptive Touch technology on the display.As spotted by Android Authority, if you dive into the Display section of Settings, there’s a new adaptive touch entry in the Touch sensitivity menu. When the feature is enabled, the touchscreen sensitivity “will automatically adjust to your environment, activities and screen protector” according to the official blurb.And that pretty much sums it up: Adaptive Touch makes it easier to use the display if you’ve got wet fingers, or if there’s a screen protector on top, or if you’re wearing gloves for example. It looks like the feature is enabled by default on the Pixel 9, the Pixel 9 Pro, and the Pixel 9 Pro XL.All the way back in March there was a rumor that Adaptive Touch was on the way for the Pixel 9 handsets, because of code hidden away in a beta version of Android 14. Now it appears that the code is live and enabled.More to followThe Pixel 9 Pro (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)Google hasn’t said anything officially about Adaptive Touch, but that’s perhaps not surprising: it had an awful lot of information to pack into its Made by Google 2024 event a couple of weeks ago, where the Pixel 9 range was unveiled.It would seem that the feature requires hardware support of some kind, as there’s no sign of Adaptive Touch on the older Google Pixel 8 phones. If this is something you think you’re going to find useful, then you’ll have to consider upgrading to the 2024 phones – the Pixel 9 starts at $799 / £799 / AU$1,349.This isn’t the first discovery of an unannounced feature on these devices either. We previously noticed that the Pixel 9 phones have improved the upgrade process (something Google has now commented on), and the new Pixel 9 Pro Fold also comes with an important upgrade in terms of hardware security.Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.While these improvements weren’t announced formally at the Pixel 9 launch, they add to the appeal of the phones – and of course Google has spent plenty of time talking about other new features, including a bunch of AI tricks.You might also like

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This $2,350 weight bench is prettier than anything in my living room

My partner and I have very different approaches to interior design. While she (a style-savvy art director) makes the house look good with tasteful additions, I (a fitness writer) clutter it up with bulky exercise equipment. But I’ve recently been introduced to something which could satisfy both camps. The Technogym Bench is designed to deliver “maximum exercise variety with minimum footprint”, neatly slotting dumbbells, knuckle weights, resistance bands and a yoga mat into a compact weight bench. As you’d expect from the notoriously luxe Italian brand, it looks pretty smart too. It’s in our Money No Object franchise for a reason  – at $2,350 in the US and £1,450 in the UK (around $AU3,500), it’s hardly a shrewd purchase. But my champagne tastes (if not my beer pockets) couldn’t help but want one, especially after I gave it a go. (Image credit: Future / Harry Bullmore)The Technogym Bench: What is it? The Technogym team describes its eponymous bench as “the innovative training solution for your home; infinite training opportunities in just one station”. Within the hollowed out interior of the weight bench you’ll find five pairs of dumbbells (5lbs / 2.5kg, 7.5lbs / 3.5kg, 10lbs / 5kg, 15lbs / 7.5kg and 20lbs / 10kg), three sets of knuckle weights (1lb / 0.45kg, 1.8lbs / 0.8kg and 2.6lbs / 1.20kg), light, medium and heavy resistance bands, and an exercise mat. Each piece of equipment has its place, whether that’s a peg, rack or compartment, and there are wheels on one end to make the bench easier to move – handy when the whole thing weighs just shy of 220lb / 100kg. (Image credit: Future / Harry Bullmore)The Technogym Bench: What makes it special? This is the big question: Why does the Technogym Bench warrant its lofty price tag?  Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.Out of interest, I raided Amazon and found I could pick up a flat weight bench with all the requisite ingredients for $316.61 – the Amazon Basics range did a lot of the heavy lifting. But this wouldn’t solve my clutter problem – if anything, it would add to it – and the gear wasn’t of the same quality either. When I tried the Technogym Bench, the Batman-esque black and gray color scheme looked great, and every element felt incredibly sturdy. This stylish aesthetic and premium feel are arguably the Technogym Bench’s biggest selling points. The brand recently launched the Design To Move project, which challenged 40 renowned designers such as Kelly Hoppen and Antonio Citterio to create their own variation of Technogym’s most decorated product (a member of the brand’s team told me this product had scooped more awards than any other on its roster). The results were displayed at Milan Design Week 2024, and you can see some of the designs below. Image

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Telegram founder Pavel Durov is reportedly arrested in France

Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of messaging app Telegram, was arrested on Saturday evening while leaving his private jet at France’s Bourget airport, according to French television network TF1.

Reports of Durov’s arrest sparked widespread discussion and speculation on social media, including on Telegram itself, although it seems to be largely based on the same handful of reports in French media. Neither Telegram nor a spokesperson for France’s national anti-fraud office ONAF immediately responded to a request for comment.

According to TF1, Durov faced a warrant in France based on a preliminary police investigation. The French authorities reportedly claim that Telegram’s lack of content moderation and unwillingness to cooperate with law enforcement make Durov an accomplice to the drug trafficking, money laundering, and sharing of child pornography that allegedly occur via the app.

The reported arrest will likely fuel further debate around the extent to which messaging apps should be held responsible (legally and otherwise) for the messages their users share.

Forbes estimates Durov’s net worth at $15.5 billion. Although born in Russia, he left the country in 2014 after resisting government pressure to release data about Ukrainian protest leaders from his previous social network Vkontakte. Durov now lives in Dubai, where Telegram is based, and his plane was reportedly flying in from Azerbaijan.

Durov said last month that Telegram had 950 million active users, with a goal of reaching 1 billion this year. At the same time, the company claims to have around only 30 engineers — a very small team for an app of Telegram’s scale, likely making Durov even more important to the company’s operation.

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Apple is reportedly going to announce the iPhone 16 lineup, and more, on September 10

Apple will be unveiling new products on September 10, with the announced phones going on sale on September 20, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

That lineup will reportedly include the iPhone 16, with larger screens on the Pro models and a new button just for taking pictures. The phones should also support Apple Intelligence, the company’s suite of AI features announced earlier this year.

The event could also include announcements of the Apple Watch Series 10, which will be thinner than past models, with a larger screen, as well as new AirPods, with noise cancellation coming to more models.

While invites for the September 10 event have not yet gone out, the timing would be consistent with Apple’s press events in recent years.

Gurman also reported that Apple is planning to update its Macs with the M4 processors, but the new Macs probably won’t be announced until later in the fall.

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Do you know where your children are? Maybe on X

A surprising number of “iPad kids” — aka Generation Alpha’s 7- to 9-year-old demographic — are using X, according to new data from parental control software maker Qustodio. The firm found that over 30% of this group of children have an X account. Qustodio theorizes that X may be gaining the attention of this young crowd thanks to its integration with Google Search, which features X posts directly in the search results.

The family of powerhouse VC Marc Andreessen, one of the investors behind the hoped-for California Forever utopian city, is planning to build a large planned community in the area as well, TechCrunch has learned.

Mike Lynch, the U.K. investor and founder of IT company Autonomy, has been identified as one of the bodies recovered from the Bayesian, the yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily after it was struck by a tornado-like water column. Lynch’s daughter Hannah was also identified.

This is TechCrunch’s Week in Review, where we recap the week’s biggest news. Want this delivered as a newsletter to your inbox every Saturday? Sign up here.

News

Image Credits: OpenAI

Our first impressions of ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode: Faster response times, unique answers and the ability to answer complex questions makes the feature stand out against Siri and Alexa. But it still falls short as an effective replacement for virtual assistants. Read more

Banks might regret helping Elon Musk buy Twitter: Elon Musk borrowed $13 billion from several major banks to help finance its $44 billion acquisition. The WSJ says this has since become the worst merger-finance deal for banks since the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Read more

Waymo wants to chauffeur your kids: Waymo is reportedly considering a subscription program called “Waymo Teen” that would let teens hail one of its robotaxis and send pickup and drop-off alerts to their parents. Read more

Welcome back, Myspace: Instagram just launched a new feature that allows you to add music to your profile as part of a collaboration with singer Sabrina Carpenter. However, songs won’t play automatically. Read more

A new way to break your iPhone: A security researcher found that typing “”:: into the search bar in the Settings app or the App Library search bar can cause iPhones and iPads to briefly crash. Type at your own risk, but don’t say we didn’t warn you. Read more

Peloton wants more cash for your used equipment: Peloton will implement a new one-time “used equipment fee” of $95 in an effort to squeeze additional revenue from secondhand products over concerns that cheaper, slightly used equipment could cannibalize sales. Read more

X exits Brazil: X is ending operations in Brazil amid a legal battle with Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes, who sought to block some X accounts for an investigation into election disinformation. The service will remain available to users in the country. Read more

Look what you made me do: Donald Trump posted a collection of memes on Truth Social that make it seem like Taylor Swift and her fans are coming out in support of his candidacy. Is it illegal? Here’s what legal experts think. Read more

Check out this robot doing push-ups: A new video from Boston Dynamics shows its new humanoid robot Atlas can do push-ups. While not an indicator of real-world use, it’s a great demonstration of Atlas’ extremely robust and powerful actuators. Read more

Never gonna give you up: Lindy founder Flo Crivello had to train his AI not to Rickroll people after it sent the music video for Rick Astley’s 1987 dance-pop hit “Never Gonna Give You Up” to two different customers. Seems like some internet memes are so ubiquitous that even LLMs pick up on it. Read more

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VC Neil Mehta, who’s quietly nabbing prized SF property, plans a “Y Combinator for restaurants”

Neil Mehta, the VC behind the acquisition of a string of properties on San Francisco’s tony Fillmore Street, made waves earlier this week for reportedly throwing long-established local restaurants to the curb to bring in more high-end retailers. The San Francisco Chronicle talked, for example, to the owner of Ten-Ichi, a neighborhood sushi restaurant for almost 50 years that now has to vacate its space next month. “This is the opposite of what San Francisco does to long-term, legacy business tenants,” the restaurant owner told the outlet. “This guy [Mehta] is displacing us.”

Sources close to the low-flying Mehta paint a very different picture, however. They say that Mehta’s very focus is on bringing a wealth of restaurants to the area, and that he’s even planning a kind of “Y Combinator for restaurants,” says one source. 

According to this person,  Mehta has a pretty grand vision for turning the roughly four-plus blocks he has quietly acquired over the last year into an oasis where ambitious restaurant owners can afford to set up shop, San Franciscans can find a wealth of dining and shopping choices, and a 111-year-old movie theater on the street is restored to its former glory and “not turned into an Equinox.”

Reached for comment earlier this week, Mehta – who reportedly purchased a $17.6 million, 117-year-old, 9,000-square-foot home in 2022 just blocks from his newly acquired commercial properties – declined to talk on the record, saying he does not speak with reporters except on behalf of his portfolio companies. 

Up and to the right

Some of Mehta’s plans were first reported by The Information earlier this year in a piece that largely delved into how Mehta, who is far less famous than many VCs, has so much money to invest in the first place. 

It’s been a fast but steady rise for the 40-year-old. A graduate of the London School of Economics, Mehta was reportedly a star investor for an offshoot of the quantitative hedge fund D.E. Shaw before using his reputation and network to co-found his venture firm, Greenoaks Capital, back in 2010. 

The San Francisco outfit, which raised its first institutional capital in 2015, has since invested in some of the tech industry’s buzziest privately held companies, including Stripe, Databricks, Rippling, and Canva – all of them now valued in the many billions of dollars by their backers. 

Greenoaks is also an early investor in Wiz, a lesser-known cybersecurity startup until recently, when it reportedly turned down a $23 billion acquisition offer from Google. (Wiz, it is worth noting, was founded just four years ago.)

Now Mehta is pouring some of those profits into Pacific Heights, the San Francisco neighborhood where he largely grew up, via a $100 million nonprofit that he has established to fuel his shopping spree. The apparent plan is not only to remake Fillmore as a go-to dining destination but, as part of that process, tackle some of the red tape that many aspiring restaurant owners face, as well as offer them lower rent – and even charge them a percentage of revenue instead of rent in some cases –  so that it’s easier for these businesses to thrive. 

Mehta, according to friends, doesn’t see his growing property empire as yet another financial bet. They insist that his primary interest is in ensuring that his San Francisco neighborhood fully rebounds from the pandemic, when according to the commercial real estate services company CBRE, roughly half the shops on Fillmore Street permanently closed. He’s a “big believer in cities,” says one source.

The moves are likely to cement his fortune either way. 

For one thing, Mehta is mostly avoiding what are called “formula retailers,” meaning companies that have 11 or more locations around the world. While some are already in the process of obtaining conditional use permits, these take up to 12 months, which is why many stores on the tree-lined street appear vacant currently. (Other neighborhoods in San Francisco have banned chain stores altogether.)

Mehta should also benefit from 100 changes to San Francisco’s planning code that were passed in December and that streamline the permitting process for independent businesses.

Given his financial muscle, Mehta can afford to be selective about the businesses he wants to help stand up, too, compared with the buildings’ previous, individual owners, who perhaps could less afford to be choosy about who pays the rent. 

Mehta isn’t buying his buildings on the cheap. For example, he acquired the street’s theater and an adjacent retail building for $11 million, compared with the $4.8 million their previous owner paid in 2008. He paid $9.7 million for a separate, 7,300-square-foot building, or $1,329 per square foot. Still, it’s easy to see how all of the pieces – buying the buildings, leasing at below-market rates to minimize turnover – could create a more vibrant scene that increases the value of Mehta’s properties over time.

Alex Sagues, a senior vice president who leads CBRE’s urban retail team in San Francisco, says many shopping districts succeed when mapped out carefully. “You don’t want two coffee shops side by side,” says Sagues. “But you take a bakery and put in a coffee shop next to it, and business can go up.” Similarly, he says, “every winery in Sonoma makes it more of a draw.” 

As for the high-end food that could soon be featured everywhere on Fillmore Street, there’s less of a risk for cannibalization than one might imagine, says Sagues. “People go for a specific experience. You’re not showing up, then deciding between Mixt [a salad restaurant] or [the three-Michelin-starred restaurant] Atelier Crenn.” The more density a district boasts, the more people come, he adds.

Mehta’s moves may already be impacting the market.

Though Pacific Heights has long been among the most expensive and sought-after neighborhoods in San Francisco, home values dipped during the pandemic. Now, according to Redfin, the average home price in Pacific Heights is rising quickly again, reaching $2.25 million in July. That’s up 28.6% year over year. 

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Marc Andreessen’s family plans to build a ‘visionary’ subdivision near the proposed California Forever utopia city

The family of powerhouse venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, one of the investors behind the hoped-for California Forever utopian city in Solano County, California, is planning a substantial community development in the area, TechCrunch has learned.

Andreessen is married to Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, whose Silicon Valley real estate mogul father bought land in Solano County decades before his death in 2022, according to county records obtained by TechCrunch. An LLC operated by Arrillaga-Andreessen’s brother that’s known as A&P Children Investments, has begun the planning process for a mixed-use development with more than 1,000 homes.

This area is on the edge of the city of Vacaville, 10 miles away from the proposed California Forever development, according to property records, planning documents, and business registry information viewed by TechCrunch. A representative for A&P said at a community meeting in March that A&P plans to ultimately sell the property for the benefit of Arrillaga-Andreessen and her brother, John Arrillaga Jr. 

Andreessen, Arrillaga-Andreessen and Arrillaga Jr. did not respond to requests for comment. 

Two other parcels of land owned by the LLC that are not part of the proposed Vacaville development are even closer to California Forever. This land — roughly 600 acres — is across the highway and down several miles from where California Forever hopes to build its solar farm.

All told, the Arrillaga family co-owns at least these three parcels totaling around 730 acres in the area. These were originally bought by their billionaire real estate developer father, John Arrillaga Sr., and his business partner, Richard Peery, in 1985, records show. The sale of any of the properties would likely also benefit Peery’s children, as he is listed as a co-director of A&P in state paperwork. A spokesperson for Peery Arrillaga, the real estate company founded by the two men, declined to comment.

California Forever is a proposed master-planned community, to be carved from over 60,000 acres of land that several members of Silicon Valley’s elite have quietly been buying in Solano County since 2017. Investors in this land include Andreessen, as well as Mike Moritz, Reid Hoffman and Laurene Powell Jobs, who have collectively sunk nearly $1 billion in pursuit of one goal: to build a new utopian city free of the ills that plague places like San Francisco, according to the New York Times.

The project leaders of California Forever didn’t know of Andreessen’s wife and brother-in-law’s connection to A&P Children Investments when they began land acquisitions in 2017 and “never made an offer” on the LLC’s land, a spokesperson says.  

“We were not aware that the Arrillaga and Peery families owned any land in Solano County until about two years ago, when we were already five years into the project,” the spokesperson said, adding that there was “nothing dramatic” about how the project found out. “We were looking at who owned parcels near ours and saw A&P. We looked up A&P and saw it was owned by the Arrillaga and Peery families.”

Erin Morris, Vacaville’s community development director overseeing the East of Leisure Town Road Specific Plan, which includes the A&P Children Investments property, has never spoken to A&P’s owners. “I don’t think anyone on staff has either,” she said. 

She added that the plans to develop this land had been in the works “before we ever heard about California Forever,” clarifying later that the beginnings of the A&P Children development can be traced back to 2015 — two years before California Forever’s founding.

Building a housing project is likely to be more lucrative for Arrillaga-Andreessen and her brother than selling the vacant land would have been — especially if interest in the area increases from the plans for a nearby, high-profile project like California Forever.

The A&P-owned properties are situated near the California Forever project. View larger. Image Credits: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch/OpenStreetMap

“It’s time to build”

For years, Andreessen’s motto “it’s time to build” has become a rallying cry as he has pushed for more housing across the country (except in his own neighborhood). 

California Forever, located about 60 miles away from San Francisco, could be considered one type of answer to that call. But the project hit a major setback last month when it had to postpone a crucial ballot measure by two years, citing a lack of local trust and support. 

Whether or not that planned community can gain the zoning and approvals it needs to proceed as envisioned, Solano County is a hotbed for lucrative development. The demand for housing has grown so high that “anything you build in Vacaville is going to be sold,” said Curtis Stocking, a Vacaville-based real estate agent who had several clients sell land to California Forever. 

The A&P Children Investments LLC has certainly taken a different approach in gaining approvals for its proposed development than California Forever. 

California Forever CEO Jan Sramek, tasked with buying up large swaths of the county, has reportedly faced a barrage of criticism from local politicians and residents, many of whom publicly lambasted him for dropping into the county with grand plans and few details. 

Meanwhile, A&P Children’s Vacaville development is making progress. At a city council meeting in April, Greg Brun, a representative for A&P Children, called the proposed development plans “visionary.” 

“What we’re looking to do here is something that’s unique to Solano County and actually to most of California,” he said. He emphasized that this was their chance to plan a large development that “doesn’t have the issues you’ve had in the past.”  

The A&P Children proposal to the city of Vacaville.Image Credits: City of Vacaville

Morris, who works for Vacaville, echoed this. She explained that, normally, developers create the plan for the land and then submit it to the city for review. But A&P Children, along with the owners of adjacent parcels that are being developed, are “essentially giving the city the money” to oversee the preparation of the plan and hire its own environmental and land-planning consultants.

While it is still very early in the process, A&P has shown city officials a rough outline of a master-planned community that includes duplexes, townhomes and micro-lot single-family detached homes “along a spectrum of affordability.” These will all “fit seamlessly into existing residential neighborhoods to the north and south of the project and support walkability,” the group wrote in April. The community would potentially include a 3.9-acre commercial mixed use area, two 1.5-acre parks, and 4.9 acres of additional park and open space with trails.

Brun emphasized that the owners were not a “fly-by-night investor” but a family that has owned the land for decades, according to meeting records.

Real estate records prove those statements to be true, although Arrillaga Sr. wasn’t exactly a local who had spent years living alongside residents. Rather, he was a real estate developer who made his fortune by quietly buying up the land in the Bay Area in the years before Silicon Valley boomed and tech conglomerates built massive campuses there. He and Peery held on to the vacant Solano County parcels for their children’s inheritance. 

“It was a long-term investment for their kids,” Brun said. 

Lessons from a real estate tycoon father-in-law

In the 1960s, Arrillaga Sr. foresaw a Silicon Valley that didn’t yet exist. Back then, the Bay Area was mostly orchards and farmlands. But Arrillaga Sr., a Stanford University graduate, saw the burgeoning semiconductor industry and made a prescient bet: He teamed up with Peery to buy up thousands of acres of cheap land and immediately erected a series of empty concrete office buildings. Together, they built the bones of Silicon Valley and waited for the actual businesses to catch up. 

By the 1980s, their wait was over. Companies like Oracle and Cisco ballooned in size and were desperate for more space, which Arrillaga Sr. and Peery were happy to supply, according to Fortune. The duo were quickly anointed real estate kingmakers, building offices for LinkedIn, Apple and Google. They became billionaires in the process. 

In 1985, the pair’s focus drifted northward, according to property records obtained by TechCrunch. They scooped up the 730 acres in Solano County, split across three mostly rectangular blocks of agricultural land, and transferred the land to Arrillaga Sr.’s children in 1998. In 2006, Arrillaga Sr. and the children transferred ownership of the land a final time to A&P Children Investments, which, according to filings with the California secretary of state, is operated by Peery and Arrillaga Jr.

About a decade later, Andreessen fell into the footsteps of his father-in-law by investing in a city that didn’t yet exist — a city to be built a few miles from parcels Arrillaga Sr. bought 30 years prior. Andreessen told Fortune in 2014 that he often sought advice from Arrillaga Sr. He currently serves as the chief financial officer of Arrillaga Sr.’s Arrillaga Foundation, according to a TechCrunch review of California state records.

California Forever’s strategy mirrors Arrillaga’s: Both targeted cheap agricultural land, both operated largely in secrecy, and both set out to establish metropolises before there was any obvious demand for them.  

The parcels owned by A&P Children Investments that lie across the highway from the planned California Forever are not currently zoned for urban development, meaning that, for now, they’ll lie fallow. The parcel in Vacaville, however, is further along. Morris said the city is beginning a three-year planning process, before the development’s plan is potentially approved.

Despite A&P Children taking a distinctly different approach than California Forever, the development has still faced residual anger from the controversial utopia. At the April meeting, one resident cited the ambitious project as he cautioned the town council to be careful greenlighting more development. “We don’t know how the magical city over by Rio Vista is going to turn out,” he said, referring to California Forever. “Why should we hurry?”

During that meeting, townsperson after townsperson pushed back against further development. “Ask yourself if this is the dream,” said Wendy Breckon, another Vacaville resident. “To the residents here, this is not the dream.”

But Andreessen’s family might still have an easier victory in Solano County with the A&P project. Vacaville is “such a beautiful area,” Stocking said, adding that “there’s already a big enough demand for housing.”

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