He is reportedly trying to build a company city where workers at , Boring and SpaceX can live. The city in question, which is about 35 miles from Austin, Texas, would probably be called Snailbrook, reports.
The publication unearthed documents laying out plans to build 110 homes alongside facilities in Bastrop County. The report indicates that Boring employees were invited last year to apply for housing, and rents are expected to start at around $800 per month for a two- or three-bedroom home. Median rent in nearby Bastrop is about $2,200 a month, so workers would be paying below-market rates.
Still, employees who lived in the city would be more indebted to Musk. In addition to receiving a salary from his business, they would be paying his rent. They would have 30 days to leave the house if they were fired from Boring or if they left the company, the report states. Executives have discussed inviting workers from other Musk companies to also apply for homes in Snailbrook: Tesla’s Texas Gigafactory is about a 30-minute drive from the city of Bastrop.
Plans for the town include converting a house into a Montessori school for up to 15 students, as well as a possible addition. The latter would allow Musk to set some rules for the municipality, which apparently would also need to hold a mayoral election.
Entities in Musk’s orbit have seized at least 3,500 acres of land in the Austin area in recent years, records say. Last year, Musk, his architectural designer, his ex-girlfriend Grimes, and Ye (aka Kanye West) discussed ideas for the city multiple times in the past year, though none of those discussions have been finalized.
Meanwhile, nearby residents have raised concerns about the environmental impact of the projects. As the Diary notes, Boring has requested the discharge of up to 140,000 gallons of industrial wastewater per day into the Colorado River. Concerns have also been raised about how Boring’s TBM tests may affect groundwater and wells.
All Engadget Recommended products are curated by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. All prices are correct at the time of publication.
