While Elon Musk is known for his wide array of companies and projects, many of them have been landing – or, in the case of SpaceX, taking off – right here in Texas.
One such project that's been getting attention online is Snailbrook, Texas – Musk’s idea for a utopian company town in the Austin suburbs of Bastrop County.
With many of his companies now in the area, Musk's plans envision creating a new town where his employees can live and work.
So far that would-be utopia amounts to various warehouses, housing units and a Boring Co.-branded bodega. However, as the site is growing, here is what we know about Snailbrook:
Housing growth in Snailbrook
When Snailbrook is completed, Musk envisions it will include at least 110 single-family homes for his employees. There is still a lot of work to be done toward that goal as housing amounts to roughly 15 trailers of varying sizes behind already existing warehouses and other facilities.
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According to online listings, housing available to Boring Co. employees at Snailbrook includes an option to rent two- or three-bedroom homes starting at $800. While this is more affordable than the area’s average rent of $1,400, the living spaces are limited to trailers with no apartment complexes or traditional homes available at the moment.
Boring Bodega and Ad Astra provide conveniences for employees
In addition to the housing already available at Snailbrook, Musk has added various amenities, including a pool, playground, grocery store and – perhaps most ambitiously – a Montessori school Musk has named Ad Astra.
After obtaining a permit last year, Ad Astra, can begin teaching students 3 to 9 years old, focusing on a STEM-based curriculum. Ad Astra is the first in a series of schools Musk hopes to open, including several K-12 schools and a university in Texas.
More:Elon Musk's private school Ad Astra gets permit to open in Bastrop, Texas
Within the complex, near the warehouses for the Boring Co. and SpaceX, there's a section called Hyperloop Plaza. The Boring Bodega, located in this section, is a notable addition to Snailbrook. It serves as the only grocery store in the area and offers various other services.
Found within a spacious warehouse, Boring Bodega offers everything a standard convenience store offers, including snacks, soda, coffee, beer, wine and other miscellaneous items. However, the store differentiates itself by offering amenities like a children’s playground, lounge space – complete with video games, cornhole and a pickleball court that can be rented for just $1 an hour – and, of course, a variety of Boring Co. merchandise.
Musk makes Texas home for all his companies
Last year, Musk announced that he would be moving all his remaining companies to Texas after a public feud with California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
SpaceX, Musk's spacecraft manufacturing company, already has facilities in Bastrop, where Musk is building the Hyperloop Plaza, which is a key component of the work-live community for his employees.
The crown jewel of Musk's companies, Tesla, is headquartered just east of Austin. This could be the reason he chose the small town less than 40 miles east of Austin as the next home for X, formerly Twitter.
The presence that Musk already has with his businesses in Bastrop could be an early indication that he is further committed to building work-live environments in multiple locations in Texas.
Starbase, a SpaceX company town under construction near Brownsville in South Texas, currently houses a landing pad, launch facility, launch control center and tracking station for SpaceX rockets.
The aerospace company has been conducting all its Starship test launches from Boca Chica, near the Texas-Mexico border along the coast. Last year, it announced a $100 million, five-story office there. Construction for that office has already started and is set to be completed by 2025, Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation records show.
Similar to what Musk hopes to accomplish with the Hyperloop Plaza section of Snailbrook, Starbase is completely dedicated to SpaceX operations.
Beck Andrew Salgado covers trending topics in the Austin business ecosystem for the American-Statesman. To share additional tips or insights with Salgado, email [email protected].
This story was updated to add a video.