SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Buys Retirees' Homes In Texas, Residents 'Low Balled'

The plans of Elon Musk-led SpaceX to expand the Boca Chica facility in Texas have snowballed into a real estate dilemma for the region’s residents.

SpaceX wanted to buy properties of Boca Chica residents due to a higher disruption from the development of the Mars rocket, Starship.

Mars research spearheaded by Mars rovers has accentuated the interest on Mars colonization and more work is expected in the region.

In this southern Texas neighborhood, dominated by retirees, SpaceX has mega plans for its private spaceport and Mars-bound Starship rocket.

According to the Business Insider report, Musk wrote a letter to Boca Chica residents in September offering to buy out their properties at three times the cost of the current market value. The initial offer was valid for two weeks from September 12 to 26.

SpaceX envisions the future development of the region as a hub of interplanetary travel with a frequency to SpaceX launch plans in the coming years.

According to reports, a recent meeting between Musk and residents ended tensely.

Low valuation irks residents

Residents are not ready to accept the buyout offer. A majority of residents feel the appraisal value offered by SpaceX is too low and does not reflect the existing market value.

Under the initial offer of Sept.12, Musk said a SpaceX panel will evaluate properties and fix the price that will be non-negotiable.

Giving an example of the rock bottom valuation by SpaceX, Boca Chica residents Terry and Bonnie Heaton said the appraisal on their property was several thousand dollars lower than what their bank estimated five years ago.

SpaceX has now heeded to the rising complains of Boca Chica homeowners that the appraisals are low and they are feeling low balled.

Under the new appraisals starting Oct. 7, the new buyout offer deadline will be Oct. 17.

For many Boca Chica residents, the situation is like having been caught between the devil and the deep sea.

Leaving the area even with a thrice the cash in hand is painful because it was their favorite sojourn. Bur living there with the perils of the chest-rattling sound of rocket engines and ancillary risks like brush fires or even large explosions is a bigger problem.

Concerns over noise pollution

Multiple concerns are haunting the residents. One is noise pollution. Be it ferrying cargo or crew to the Moon or Mars a lot of noise is inevitable when rockets are fired into the air.

The elderly residents of tiny Boca Chica Village are wary about the changes and big noises in this once-sleepy neighborhood. They chose it for retirement seeing its promise of peaceful living and proximity to a quiet beach nearby.

For them, the small town is as lovable as the Texas Roadhouse steaks are to the youngsters.

In the first letter, Musk also offered a sweetener saying SpaceX recognizes a “unique opportunity to experience at close-hand” for the residents in the development of the world's most advanced rocket.

Musk said the purchase offer will also make them entitled to watch future private launches normally inaccessible to the public, per SpaceX news.