According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, he is attempting to construct a company town in Texas for employees of Tesla, Boring, and SpaceX.
As per a report by The Wall Street Journal, Elon Musk is allegedly working on creating a company town named Snailbrook where employees of Tesla, Boring, and SpaceX can reside. This proposed town is expected to be situated about 35 miles from Austin, Texas.
According to documents uncovered by the publication, there are proposed blueprints to construct 110 residences in close proximity to the Boring and SpaceX facilities located in Bastrop County. The report highlights that Boring staff were offered an opportunity to apply for housing in the area last year, with rental prices expected to begin at approximately $800 per month for a two to three bedroom house. This price is below the average rental rate in the nearby Bastrop region, which is around $2,200 per month, indicating that the workers would be paying lower-than-market prices.
Nevertheless, if employees opt to reside in the proposed town, they would be even more reliant on Musk. Not only would they receive a salary from his ventures, but they would also be paying him rent. The report mentions that if these workers were terminated from Boring or chose to leave the company for other reasons, they would have a 30-day grace period to vacate their homes. Additionally, according to sources, company officials have deliberated extending the opportunity to apply for Snailbrook housing to workers from Musk's other companies. For instance, Tesla's Texas Gigafactory is situated approximately a half-hour drive from the town of Bastrop.
The blueprints for the town encompass converting one of the houses into a Montessori school that could accommodate up to 15 pupils. Furthermore, there is discussion about the town potentially becoming incorporated, which would enable Musk to establish specific regulations for the municipality. If this comes to fruition, Snailbrook would need to hold an election to appoint a mayor, as stated in the report.
Records suggest that entities associated with Musk have acquired a minimum of 3,500 acres of land in the Austin region in recent years. According to reports, Musk, along with his architectural designer, former partner Grimes, and Ye (also known as Kanye West), held discussions about plans for the town numerous times last year. However, no definitive decisions were reached following these conversations.
In the meantime, individuals living in the vicinity have voiced their apprehension regarding the potential ecological repercussions of these projects. As highlighted by The Journal, Boring has submitted an application to discharge as much as 140,000 gallons of industrial wastewater daily into the Colorado River. Furthermore, there are concerns regarding the impact that the testing of Boring's tunneling machinery could have on groundwater and wells.