Tech Billionaires’ Project to Build a New City in California is Primed for a Comeback

California Forever has had its ups and downs. The project, which was originally announced in 2023 and is backed by a variety of well-known Silicon Valley billionaires, seeks to create a brand new city in northern California. Last year, a ballot initiative designed to legally certify the project was pulled from consideration after ongoing local backlash. At the time, the project seemed doomed. Now, however, it may have new life, as its backers are hoping to form a “new community†by drastically expanding an already existing Bay Area city.

Last week, California Forever announced that it had submitted a formal application for what it calls the Suisan Expansion Project. The plan would reportedly expand the city of Suisan, which is located adjacent to the massive Solano County land bundles previously purchased by the development group, by approximately 22,000 acres. That land, which would be incorporated into Suisan, would then be used to build a variety of new businesses and residential areas, including what developers call “the Solano Foundryâ€â€”a planned industrial park, centered around a large manufacturing plant, that the group describes as a “new home for frontier tech, an hour north of Silicon Valley.â€

Jan Sramek, the project’s CEO, also outlined the group’s plan in a thread posted to X last week. In his remarks, Sramek called the project “the next great American city, an hour north of Silicon Valley.†He went on:

California used to do big things. From rockets in the Mojave to chips in Silicon Valley, California dreamed. California designed. California built. But then we stopped. To lead again, we need a place that can capture the imagination of the nation. Solano can be that place.

In more detail, he added:

The Suisun Expansion includes Solano Foundry, a new downtown, and over a 40-year build out, walkable neighborhoods with 175,000+ homes. The proposed Solano Shipyard, 7 miles south, remains in unincorporated Solano County.

Suisun’s city manager Bret Prebula told SFGate that it would take between 30 and 45 days to begin an environmental review process for the project. “In the months that we’ve been having really high-level conversations with them about our interest with jobs and housing, transportation, and to have open space as part of this process, among other very big picture items, they’ve really listened,†Prebula told the outlet.

In a statement previously shared with Gizmodo, the group said: “We heard from the Solano County community that they would prefer for the project to be built through annexation into an existing city and we are working with Suisun City and Rio Vista to do just that. … An industry and technology zone, and bringing advanced manufacturing jobs to Solano County, have always been an integral part of the project.†A spokesperson for the group added: “California Forever is still proposing to build a new community in Solano County, and the Solano Foundry is part of that vision.â€

The project also appears to be trying to improve its outreach to the local community, as it recently brought on Jim Wunderman, a longtime president and CEO of the Bay Area Council (a local business advocacy group), as its head of public affairs.

California Forever definitely needs help when it comes to “public affairs.†Indeed, the project has weathered a number of local controversies, including a lawsuit between it and a group of local farmers who did not want to sell their land to the development, and a series of “town halls†designed to sell county residents on the project (predictably, they devolved into hostile chaos).