Neighbors of Starbase continue to be perplexed by some of SpaceX's activities. Last year, a homeowner in the area, Keith Reynolds, noticed that SpaceX builders had cleared a parcel and were storing construction materials there. The parcel belonged to Cards Against Humanity, a card game company that sometimes engages in progressive political activism and bought land there to thwart a border wall with Mexico.
Reynolds said he called SpaceX to complain, but got no response. He also phoned an executive at Cards Against Humanity to inform them. The executive, who asked not to be identified by name, told Reuters that Denise Marrufo, a SpaceX real estate analyst, called afterward, asking if the company wanted to sell the property.
The executive ignored the offer.
Marrufo didn't respond to a request for comment.
Johnson, the retiree who refused to sell her houses, said SpaceX's offer wasn't enough to tempt her. The company, she said, made her a take-it-or-leave-it offer of $340,000 for both houses, and told her it wouldn't consider buying just one.
Today, she is one of just a handful of original neighbors remaining. Most residents now are SpaceX workers, many of them living in refurbished neocolonial and modernist homes.
At some point, former SpaceX employees and locals told Reuters, Starbase workers took down a Boca Chica sign identifying their village. They said workers also removed a statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe, an icon revered by the predominantly Mexican-American residents who long lived in the area.
"SpaceX has been good for SpaceX and the elected officials that helped it come here," said Johnson. "All Elon Musk has done for me is destroy my dreams."
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