WELCOME TO ELON ACRES
Texans fret as Musk buys up lots of lots
In recent years, Elon Musk has been quietly buying up a small Texas neighborhood so that he could build his own little village near his Tesla, SpaceX and Boring companies, The Post can confirm.
Located in Bastrop, outside of Austin city limits, Musk has spent millions purchasing land in the quaint town in hopes he can avoid big-city regulations, The Wall Street Journal first reported.
Situated next to the Colorado River, the 51-year-old CEO’s vision is to create his own utopia where his employees can live and work.
But while locals are happy about the new opportunity that fell at their doorstep, they remain wary of what the development will mean for the charming small town they’ve called home for most of their lives.
Anna O’Neil grew up in the town, riding horses along with her sister, Molly. Her parents, Michael and Linda Waxman, were among the residents who recently sold their longtime estate to Musk, adding more than 100 acres to the thousands he’s acquired.
O’Neil’s sister still lives on a portion that Musk also bought, but she’s not required to leave until 2024.
Company town
The town was shocked at first to learn that Musk had chosen their little slice of paradise as the site for his factories and companies, O’Neil said. But over the years, the locals didn’t realize it would also mean giving up their properties.
“My parents were really close with all the neighbors down the street. So if one person sold out in the community, you kind of all have to,” O’Neil, 30, told The Post, adding that her grandfather had raised greyhounds on the farm for years.
“The land belonged to my grandparents and then my mom inherited it,” she said. “They are working to get my parents off of that property at the end of the month so they can start working on it. So nothing’s been done yet. We’re still trying to get off of the property.”
“There’s definitely a lot of history. There’s a lot of memories out there of him like training dogs. He built up this whole farming community there,” O’Neil said of her grandfather. “So I think it’s a little sad because we’re going through kind of his things and picking and choosing — to get off the property.”
O’Neil said that when Musk’s team approached her family to buy the land, they were told it would be used for workers’ housing, not a town.
Musk called the Journal report that he is building a town “false” on Friday.
While photos obtained by The Post show the land is still in the early days of the construction process, it already has a few modular homes, an outdoor sports arena, a pool and a gym.
In Texas, for a town to be incorporated, it would need at least 201 residents. The Bastrop County Commissioner’s office has yet to receive a submission from Musk in that regard.
Entities tied to Musk’s companies or executives have purchased at least 3,500 acres in the Austin area, the Journal reported. This equates to four times the size of Central Park.
There was talk Musk even owned upward of 6,500 acres of land in the Lone Star State.
“It was a shock when we found it was going to be an actual town,” she said. “I learned that from an Instagram post. I didn’t know that this would be the possibility. I heard he wants to even hire a mayor.”
Lure of the Lone Star
Musk initially fled California for Texas to avoid insurmountable regulations. He even referred to the Golden State as a place of “overregulation, overlitigation, overtaxation,” he said in December 2021.
Texas has fewer zoning laws and more loosely regulated land than California, as well as having no corporate income tax or capital-gains taxes.
Floor plans filed in the Bastrop County Commissioners Court in January show the vision of Snailbrook village, in reference to Musk’s Boring company mascot.
The map, obtained by The Post, shows Snailbrook would have 110 residences on what would be Boring Boulevard, WaterJet Way, Porpoise Place and Cutterhead Crossing.
“My dad’s perspective, it’s nice to just kind [of] turn over a new leaf,” O’Neil said of the changes.
“My parents are buying different property with the money and reinvesting it. So . . . that’s been fun.”
Her parents still own their 4,500-square-foot home in Bastrop. And the town remains fairly small.
O’Neil’s parents hail from big cities — mom Linda is from Austin and dad Michael is from New York. The couple was in the film business and lived in Los Angeles for several years before going to Texas to inherit the farm.
O’Neil said when she was younger, there was only a Walmart and a stoplight. She quips that now there’s a Chick-fil-A.
In Bastrop, Musk’s SpaceX is building a 500,000-square-foot facility, and, across state road 1209, Boring — Musk’s infrastructureand tunnel-construction firm — is building a warehouse.
“There was a little bit of pause on what this would mean for our community,” O’Neil said. “We’re still a small town at heart here. It was a big change. I think there’s still a little bit of fear, or not fear, but anticipation — seeing what’s to come, because things are changing so fast.”
“And of course he builds so quickly. I mean, the Tesla factory went up what feels like overnight for how large scale it was.”
In the end, O’Neil said the process is bittersweet.
“There’s a little bit of nerves, but also kind of relief,” O’Neil said. “My parents now have the money to buy other property that’s a little bit further outside of the city limit to continue kind of living a smaller farm life.”
The Post has reached out to Musk and the Bastrop County court for comment.