California Forever, a controversial project with aspirations to expand Solano County by up to 400,000 residents, was dealt a blow last week as a $3 billion contract went to Texas instead.
California Forever first became known to the public in 2024, when reports surfaced that a shadowy group of billionaires had purchased 65,000 largely rural acres around Suisun City and Rio Vista, making it the largest landowner in Solano County. The group announced it planned to build a new city with its acquisitions, but the idea was widely unpopular in the county. Amid dire polling numbers, California Forever pulled a November 2024 ballot measure that would have allowed the project to bypass certain zoning restrictions to develop the area.
Since then, the project has pivoted, at least in the short term, toward manufacturing. The site’s location, which has access to the Pacific Ocean via Suisun Bay, has been pitched to companies as an ideal spot for shipbuilding…