By Gaige Davila
Texas Public Radio
During the height of SpaceX fever in Brownsville, city officials rephrased the city's motto, “On the border, by the sea,” by adding, “and beyond.”
Brownsville claimed it was on its way to becoming the new “Silicon Valley of Space.” Officials publicized the arrival of space industry startups and venture capital funds. However, a recent compliance audit conducted by the city suggested that few of the companies publicized by officials remain today.
The audit, which describes a partnership between the city's economic development corporation and 9Point8 Capital, a venture capital firm, found that some of the businesses that promised to set up shop in Brownsville may have never established themselves after their publicized arrivals.
The City of Brownsville did not respond to TPR's requests for comment.
J. Brant Arseneau and the venture capital firms building 'New Space City'
9Point8 Capital is a space-focused venture capital firm, one of several companies promoted by former Mayor Juan "Trey" Mendez and then-GBIC Executive Director Helen Ramirez as the future of Brownsville's new space economy. Joseph Brant Arseneau,
the company’s owner, said in a November 2021 press conference that 9Point8 Capital would help Brownsville pioneer the new space industry.
The city-led audit of the $1 million, two-year contract between 9Point8 Capital and the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation (GBIC) showed that the company’s plans to operate in Brownsville never came to any meaningful fruition. According to the audit, GBIC paid 9Point8 Capital $250,000 within five days of the contract being signed in October 2021, then another $250,000 in April 2022, without the company proving it had done any work.
Brownsville claimed it was on its way to becoming the new “Silicon Valley of Space.” Officials publicized the arrival of space industry startups and venture capital funds. However, a recent compliance audit conducted by the city suggested that few of the companies publicized by officials remain today.
The audit, which describes a partnership between the city's economic development corporation and 9Point8 Capital, a venture capital firm, found that some of the businesses that promised to set up shop in Brownsville may have never established themselves after their publicized arrivals.
The City of Brownsville did not respond to TPR's requests for comment.
J. Brant Arseneau and the venture capital firms building 'New Space City'
9Point8 Capital is a space-focused venture capital firm, one of several companies promoted by former Mayor Juan "Trey" Mendez and then-GBIC Executive Director Helen Ramirez as the future of Brownsville's new space economy. Joseph Brant Arseneau,
the company’s owner, said in a November 2021 press conference that 9Point8 Capital would help Brownsville pioneer the new space industry.
The city-led audit of the $1 million, two-year contract between 9Point8 Capital and the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation (GBIC) showed that the company’s plans to operate in Brownsville never came to any meaningful fruition. According to the audit, GBIC paid 9Point8 Capital $250,000 within five days of the contract being signed in October 2021, then another $250,000 in April 2022, without the company proving it had done any work.
GBIC’s contract with 9Point8 Capital said the company had to employ at least 20 people, create $10 million in taxable property, fund program scholarships for the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, create a “hatchery” to find funding for space businesses coming to the city and attract capital investors to Brownsville-based space startups, according to the audit.
9Point8 Capital founder Arseneau had already made another agreement with the GBIC under a different company, Spaced Ventures, which the audit stated paid him $250,000 over the span of two years to bring more space startups to Brownsville and employ four people.
The audit found that Arseneau had not done any of this.
In September 2022, GBIC gave Arseneau six months to show proof of establishing in Brownsville and making progress on the business. On May 11 this year, GBIC attempted to recover the $750,000 it gave Arseneau through a clawback provision, according to the audit.
At the time of the audit’s publication, the money had not been recovered. The City of Brownsville’s auditing department wrote that it last attempted to contact Arseneau in late April, where they were “referred to contact his attorney.” TPR’s attempts to contact Arseneau were unsuccessful.
According to interviews by the city’s auditing department of former consultants hired by 9Point8 Capital, the company’s management felt they could not satisfy the hiring requirements because “they could not find qualified employees.”
Astreia’s goal was to help develop housing for the first SpaceX settlement on Mars, and the space startup planned to use Brownsville to build a prototype on Earth they called "Habitat Zero."
The project was championed by the City of Brownsville, with Mendez affirming local demand for the project as “immediate relief to the urgent and rising housing needs of our growing aerospace and technology sectors.”
In March 2022, Brownsville’s city council rezoned a portion of land along Highway 4, the lone road to SpaceX’s Boca Chica facility, to accommodate Habitat Zero. Mendez touted the project in a now-deleted Facebook post. “Thank you Astreia for believing in Brownsville,” Mendez wrote.
A few months after the rezoning, Astreia announced that it would break ground on the 25 acres with homes move-in ready by early 2023. In May 2022, Astreia’s founder and CEO Natalie Rens rented a warehouse space from the airport, which she announced in a tweet, to develop the homes, a source told TPR. Astreia is not currently listed as a tenant in the airport.
None of the planned 125 homes appear to have been developed, even after Rens sold at least one home to a UTRGV student.
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41 comments:
Late again, Montoya.
mexicans love to sleep late.
ja ja ja
other bloggers had this before you did, puto.
Yes, whatever.
Now, Brownsville is bigger than New York and where nobody sleep. And graffiti all downtown Brownsville just like in DOWNTOWN LA. CALIFORNIA. BECAUSE it is abandoned and thousands of homeless.
WHO ARE YOU FOOLING
Oh yes, large jobs coming to Brownsville. Taking the money and run.
Now, raise the taxes. Because, the real estate is in demand to house all the people moving to Brownsville. And opening large business in downtown.
AND PAYING 35.00 AN HOUR.
The rich get richer at the expense of the stupid city government of Brownsville. 4A and 4B monies going into the toilet of the city commissioners and idiot mayors. Keep up the good work Brownsville?
Pinches ratas, Mendez, local democratic politicians got their money..Mendez your pizza sucks..
Nomas nos picaron los ojos. Here there are no qualified employees because people don't value education and they don't like to work. I figure this out when I was 17 back in 1993.
Brownsville would be a good retirement city. SpaceX just came to destroy the natural habitat and contaminate the ocean.
There is a Latin saying going back 2000 years: “per aspera ad astra" which translated means “through adversity to the stars,” or, "through hardship to the stars." So whenever an obstacle rises that seems to block the path forward, in reality the obstacle has an essential function.
You’re late to the party jackass! You are the asshole that helps destruct this community. You push for the wrong people and then you have that stupid look on your face when these stories come out, Like I had nothing to do with that. A giant FUCK YOU!!! The lower class are going to feel the impact of all these decisions as they play out in our community. Tell that old ass man at the MC report that his face is an add for an erectile dysfunction add. That MFer is a lost cause.
Suck a dick, bitch ass.
It was frenzy of ass kissing during that time. El lil Trey stuck his tongue in Elon's ass so deep, he could feel his small intestine produce shit.
And to think that we may get stuck with that arrogant POS Sauceda. He tried to implement the "total alignment" idea at PD, but if anything, lost all respect from his officers, who know talk about him behind his back.
Under his total alignment tenure:
1. Assigned a guy to the gym. He is there based in the gym, wasting tax payer money.
2. Just assigned a rookie, with NO experience as a police officer, she spent 3 months on patrol, now is the new public information officer.
3. Assigned another of his former girlfriends to his marathon and 5k runs committee. Yes her only job is to run and coordinate 5k events.
4. Assigned all the union officers to cushy jobs, that way none of them will speak up, since they do not want to lose their jobs, namely Carlos "down syndrome" Zamorano.
5. Selected a man-child, Lt. Massey, to Commander,,, enough said.
6. His minions, Mamalouie, el Dell tech/stats/secretly record officers Avendano, and Nancy "la toucan" Alaniz to spends time with Mamalouie, in a single office, where they always have their office door closed and locked.
7. Has an officer, assigned to A.T.F., cause el Chapo owed the officers' father a favor. Same officer was caught in an improper relationship with a fellow officer, but was swept under the rug.
8. Has an officer at the westside "training" division who is so overweight, that him putting on a uniform would be a safety concern, to HIMSELF!
9. An officer/swat member complained on by supervisors from municipal court because a clerk, JM (married) would spend numerous hours on personal calls with the officer, JD (married), while on company time.
10. A CID detective JA (married), cheating with a records clerk TU, el chapo knows, but he allows it.
11. Did I already mention Mamalouie?
More to come.........
juan big pie in the sky deal or Mars should i say anyway these folks at BGIC fell for it like in the past with many other projects titan tires comes to mind or that big call center project oh well just look at that guy's face es Bandido, and Hellen Reddy felt for it. oh well its only $750k in sales tax money at least it was not a $$$ million or more. As long as BGIC says there is free money (Grants) the line will be long just like when they gave out USDA cheese that made some great enchiladas, oops oh well and the band marches on, adios.
So what?
not news. been everywhere else, pendejo!
You could not find qualified employees.
I feel the same way about our Brownsville Texas city and county government.
Is it time to terminate someone??
Helen Ramirez is a total failure in her position as city manager ( plus 4-5 assistant city managers). And if all the rumors/stories are true, she remains for the simple reason that she belongs to the original “posse” that gave away Boca Chica to Space X. They gave away all these concessions and bent over backwards to have these guys sets up shop in our backyard and along the way were promised riches and businesses for all to enjoy. The only ones that enjoyed these “ riches” were the elected officials and selected few that sold their soul to the devil( and gave away Boca Chica at the same time) !!! Now the reports basically say that we were screwed in every which way . What did you all expect, thats the way the cookie crumbles when you deal with these types. Our local politicians were mesmerized and hypnotized by all these guys worldly glamour and these idiots fell for it. All are fearless leaders must of thought that they were all gonna be regulars on CNN, MSNBC, FOX NEWSetc. Yeah right , you got taken to the cleaners and whats worse with something that didn’t belong to you!!! Now you’re crying wolf and all these other companies are laughing all the way to the bank. Shame on you
La cagaste Trey, there goes your political career. Everyone seems to make a buck off the poorest area in the good ole USA. NVV
Ha ha ha
that dumbass Barton kissing your ass when you didn't even write this story, Toya.
Oh, he said you cited it from another writer.
You copied & pasted it, dude!
and got credit for it!!!
You got Barton all fucked-up.
facts.
Good story but why by a writer from out of town?
weird.
That was to be expected. These local politicians thought they could negotiate with the big dogs and got their asses handed to them. Bunch of inept and gullible morons. Helen Ramirez was so far up Bernals ass that she had no idea what she was getting herself into and thus her failing policies. And this is with the help of 4-5 assistant city managers. What a clusterfuck. But then again, business as usual in the city of Brownsville . So embarrassing
Trampa el viejito ese que es primo de Buzz lightyear, se los chingo con $750k. man you all fell for this scheme one too many times Brownsville, the titan tire project, that other space deal with a former NASA astroNUT, etc etc etc. Hellen reddy do you really think everyone is so honest? Yea right, oh well its just sales tax money no biggie deal. BTW I didnt go to porter high just to eat my free lunch, I learned a thing or two on the streets and at school, Hellen went to some California college or university y que, se los bailaron. El porter kid.
The reason the flame has died down is because there is a new girl on the block and her name is LNG! They’ve already milked the SpaceX cow dry and it’s time to move on to the next heifer. All these boards already trying to get their hands into LNG pockets. SpaceX was so 2022! Give it a month or two and there will be a huge LNG / Bechtel mural on the side of the E-Bridge building.
Kickbacks?????
There are no schools in the valley that will prepare students for a career in the space industry. Also, that kind of work ethic doesn't exist in the land of mañana.
August 20, 2023 at 10:36 AM
You don't like leave tu y tu mama la piruja y tu hattian padre triple jotos
August 20, 2023 at 2:08 PM
como chingas maricon triple mamones tu tu mama y tu padre el hattian maricones los tres
get your mama out of low housing and/or section ocho mamon.
August 20, 2023 at 10:36 AM
como chingas maricon instead of insulting people and the blog owner get your mama out of low income housing y section 8 pinche agarrado pendejo.
como chingas maricon ya pusistes gorro aqui jotito. TELL YOUR DAUGHTER SHE CAN GO OVER AFTER 1:30AM. we'll be waiting oh she's good. que lastima
She's living it up in Australia.
It's kinda hard to specialize in an industry that doesn't exist. Brownsville was just wet for having something big and new come to their city. They believed anything Musk had to say. They wanted to move fast and approved things that shouldn't have been approved.
9point8 - no visible products, ideas, or personnel. The owner edits his own wikipedia page and most of the citations are to draft papers.
Astreia - no previous development experience. Woman had a hard on for Musk, space, and crypto. There's not one prefab building on any of their sites.
Paragon vtol - NO ACTUAL PRODUCT EITHER.
I mean c'mon. Let me build a website, doctor my wikipedia, and say I have a degree in this and that. Make sure I take a photo in a suite to look professional too. Then promise an idea with only 3D rendered models. Brownsville grow the fuck up.
And this article and investigation had to come from an outside source.. Where's the local media?
the article is telling, but to keep their funding they make no mention of the key players running the show. Its failure to mention the key players kills the articles credibility
La bandeja replace by a sause pan cover. que verguenza an insult to a meskin coco.
la bandeja replaced by a saucepan cover. que verguenza.
The ignorant citizens of Brownsville got played again. We lost Boca Chica beach. All for what? A lousy testing site. The only monkeys flying from here to Mars are the local politicians. That's if we can find them. Some are in hiding while others are vacationing in the Bahamas with the money stolen from the sale of our beautiful beach. Now the rich out of Towner’s rule our city. Thanks democrats! Another great job of thievery.
I don't consider myself a Democrat or Republican. I just wish people would stop blaming a political party. It is the person who chose to do wrong that is to blame. Some people have hidden agendas.
pinche vieja lambiscona y mamona the city commissioners hire someone that resembles them
Might have been bribes under the table too. We'll never know for sure.
(Thanks democrats! Another great job of thievery.)
You're an idiot, dude. And I'll bet I'm not the first to ever tell you that, huh?
Eldelasprietas.
1:14. Your comment was great and covered many good points UNTIL THE “ THANKS TO THE DEMOCRATS”. You are entitled to your opinion but CORRUPTION is NOT a political party disease!! People that steal and take advantage of the poor/ weak do it because its in their nature/soul to do it. These crooks were already stealing long before they had decided what political party to join. Many of them could care less about politics than taking that$$$$ that doesn’t belong to them. Enough said
she was given the spacex tour to the top of a rocket y .........
August 22, 2023 at 10:11 AM
and she road that rocket to high heaven with her pay check.
There has been 3 tres three rocket explosions lately and no report to no one. I know cause every time a rocket explodes mojones jump out of the toilet and my cat runs up my leg. mmmmmeeeeeoooooooowwwwwwwww!!!!!!
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