The Lompoc City Council granted another extension to the organization seeking to create a $150-million space-themed entertainment and educational attraction, allowing two more years to meet key milestones, including securing financing for the ambitious project.

On Tuesday night, the council voted 4-1 to approve the second extension to Pale Blue Dot Ventures’ long-term ground lease and operating agreement after a request for at least one more year.

Noting the recent rollercoaster economy, Mayor Jim Mosby called the extension critical to show the council’s support and to gain investors’ confidence.

His motion included a two-year extension, saying a suggested shorter time could pose a problem for securing investors.

“This is not an easy sell with that,” Mosby said.

Councilmember Jeremy Ball said he opposed the extension, but not the project. 

“I still love this project, and you can change my vote next time if the money shows up,” Ball said, adding that $5 million is not a lot of money to secure. 

“The guy’s never done it,” Mosby could be heard muttering on his open microphone. 

“From my perspective, I think that’s fair to ask and hold your feet to the fire a little bit,” Ball told Steven Franck, Pale Blue Dot’s chief executive officer and founder.

“Even in fantasyland $5 million is still a lot (of) money,” Mosby said.

Pale Blue Dot has proposed building the for-profit Space Base California on 82 acres of land, including Ken Adam Park, which would be acquired from the city.

The development — dubbed “a space innovation and education hub with an entertainment hook”— would include a business park, a 75-room hotel, theaters, camp programs, rides and other attractions focused on space. 

This is the second extension granted since the City Council’s 2024 approval of a long-term ground lease and operating agreement with a conditional option for disposition and project development.

The city and Pale Blue Dot first entered a memorandum of understanding in 2019 for exclusive negotiations for the land acquisition. The council approved a number of extensions to that phase in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“I just think some people have lost a little bit of faith, wondering if we’re going to put this together,” Councilmember Victor Vega said. 

“We’re talking about building something kind of looks like Disney on the West Coast,” said Franck. “It’s a pretty ambitious project, and I’ve had a lot of people say to me, ‘Why don’t you just scale it back and make it much smaller and you’d have much more likely probability of success?’ 

“Our view is we have to open pretty strong, that if we have something that’s not very impressive it’ll quick kill our brand and people won’t bother coming. That’s why it’s aggressive.”

Ball said he has started to wonder about the project’s viability, and said he would like an update in six months. 

“As I’m playing devil’s advocate on this, why should we keep extending when you’ve only gotten the $2 million raised on something that’s going to cost way more than that?” Ball asked. 

In the September letter again seeking more time, Franck said Pale Blue Dot is targeting $50 million in equity capital and STEM grants, estimating needing $5 million to complement entitlements or approvals to develop the project. 

“Rather than pursue a single investor to write a single check (very difficult to find and close), we are pursuing a syndicate that ‘jigsaws’ its way to the capital resources needed,” Franck wrote.

So far, Pale Blue Dot has raised $2 million, with roughly $500,000 of that in the past two years. 

In March, they engaged “a middle market investment bank” to help connect Pale Blue Dot with investors, he said. During the summer, they sent out 80 to 100 “two-page, no-name” teasers to entice investors, getting interest from 30.

Pale Blue Dot also has searched for investors using artificial intelligence and an intern to identify about 45 others, Franck said, describing them as high net-worth developers invested in entertainment, hospitality and real estate.

“Look, big ideas take a lot of time and then they really pay off,” Franck said, citing the Sphere in Las Vegas. That $1 billion building was completed two years late, but now attracts millions of people each year. 

Under the pact, Pale Blue Dot has a number of milestones, including completion of the project description sufficient for an environmental review. 

After meeting the many milestones, Pale Blue Dot would have the opportunity to purchase the property and build the project, City Attorney Jeff Malawy said.

Pale Blue Dot’s Franck said the project description — about 300 to 400 pages — is about 75% complete, with updates needed to reflect revised pricing and cost estimates. 

Franck blamed uncertainty after the November 2024 election as the Trump administration took office. He said investors were concerned about unknown consequences of tariffs and economic instability.