SpaceX Reveals Details on Proposal to Buy Boca Chica State Park

The Texas Tribune

McALLEN, TX — In a rare move, SpaceX is laying out details of its plans in South Texas, while the city of Starbase is speaking out about SpaceX’s potential purchase of Boca Chica State Park.

All this comes amid fears that the state would cede control of the park to a company owned by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk.

Starbase City Administrator Cayetana Polanco said the potential sale of the state park between the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and SpaceX did not include the beach.

“First, to be absolutely clear, nobody is buying or selling Boca Chica Beach,” Polanco said in a statement.

She clarified further by adding that the proposed transaction concerned land surrounding SpaceX’s launch facility, not the beach itself.

The city of Starbase is not a party to the transaction, Polanco said, deferring questions about the potential sale to Texas Parks and Wildlife or SpaceX.

Potential sale

Texas Parks and Wildlife, the state agency responsible for managing and conserving state parks, had been in talks to give up control of 1,300 acres of land in Cameron County, according to a draft agenda for a Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting that was to be held in early November.

The draft agenda specifically referenced the “disposition” of the land which can mean a sale, trade, transfer or otherwise relinquishment of ownership.

The 1,300 acres of land is believed to be Boca Chica State Park as it is one of the largest pieces of land Texas Parks and Wildlife owns in Cameron County, according to county appraisal district records.

The finalized version of the agenda, however, did not include the potential disposition of the land and it is unclear whether the commission will consider the transaction in the future.

Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa had criticized the potential sale of Boca Chica park to SpaceX and, following her stunning win over Gov. Greg Abbott in November’s elections, said she had spoken to the executive director of Texas Parks and Wildlife to request that “no action be taken” on the sale during her transition.

The agency has remained silent on the proposed transaction and is trying to block the release of the draft agenda to the public.

Details emerge

SpaceX typically remains mum on details of its plans and rarely responds to questions from the media.

However, on Thursday, the company offered up some details about ongoing projects after news broke earlier this week of the company’s plans to build a $24 billion data center facility near the Port of Brownsville.

The new facility — which includes a gas-fired power plant and super-compute facility, a specialized data center — will be used to train intelligence systems for applications in medical research, emergency response, advanced manufacturing and national security, SpaceX said in a news release Thursday. At the same time, the facility will be used to develop and test technologies for space-based computing.

With construction already underway, the project has created more than 3,000 construction jobs and is expected to have created more than 500 permanent jobs once the facilities are operational, the company said.

Though speculation around what SpaceX was building in the area had swirled for months, details of the project were publicly confirmed this week when the city of Starbase posted a notice of a public hearing scheduled for December during which Starbase city officials will discuss a potential tax abatement agreement for the project. The company is also seeking a tax break from the county, although details haven’t been made public yet.

Locals suspected SpaceX would build a data center on the property after the company asked Brownsville city commissioners to de-annex the land from their city limits. Brownsville was on the verge of advancing a temporary data center moratorium at the time of the request which the commissioners adopted last week.

In exchange for the de-annexation, SpaceX agreed to fund $220 million for Brownsville water and wastewater projects.

Data centers have faced new restraints across the state after Gov. Greg Abbott ordered a pause on data center connections to the electric grid. However, SpaceX confirmed that their facility will generate its own electricity, bypassing the need to draw power from the Texas’ public grid.

During her campaign, Hinojosa said she would go further by banning all data center approvals until state lawmakers could pass laws “to protect Texans.”

In addition to their data center project, SpaceX’s activity in the area is only expected to increase even further as it is proposing to increase the frequency of its rocket launches and landings at its Starbase launch site from 25 a year to 100, and eventually increase that even further to 456.

The Federal Aviation Administration is in the process of evaluating SpaceX’s request.

Speaking publicly

The city of Starbase is largely inhabited by SpaceX employees and two of three city commissioners work for the company as well.

Like the company, the city has largely remained tight-lipped and shrouded in as much secrecy as a government organization can be under state law.

The streets of Boca Chica Village, the largest residential neighborhood in Starbase, have been closed off to the public and city officials have declined interviews and requests for comment.

In her statement, Polanco said the people of Starbase have worked to restore the beach, hosted weekly cleanup efforts, hosted Fourth of July events for the region and supported sea turtle conservation efforts.

“Nobody has done more to restore the beach than the people of Starbase,” Polanco said.

The city is also addressing beach erosion through a rehabilitation initiative with the Texas General Land Office.

Polanco added that the city looks forward to working with Hinojosa and her administration to accelerate those efforts.

“We would also be delighted to welcome her to Starbase, introduce her to her constituents here, proud Texans who are equally proud of what we’re helping build for the future of our state, and show her firsthand the extraordinary work happening in this community,” Polanco said.