California Forever, the oddly named, billionaire-backed outfit seeking to build a new city from the ground up in eastern Solano County, has lost out on a chance to bring a $3.2 billion shipbuilding facility to the county's waterfront.
As reported previously, while California Forever is primarily looking to build its new city about 15 miles north of the Delta, on land that it has purchased east of Fairfield, a concurrent effort has been ongoing to bring a shipyard to the unincorporated town of Collinsville, on the waterfront. The thinking is that a push to re-establish America's ship-building industry by the Trump administration could help bring an economic engine to the would-be town — and the group has been working with state and federal agencies to establish a Maritime Prosperity Zone there, to help things along.
But they've had their first setback, as the Chronicle reports, losing out on a contract for a $3.2 billion automated shipyard building autonomous warcraft to Brownsville, Texas. Austin-based Saronic Technologies, a defense-industry startup, had narrowed down a selection process to two candidate sites, in Collinsville or in Brownsville, and they chose Brownsville. The project is to be called Port Alpha, and will now be linked to the Gulf of Mexico.
According to California Forever, this is the fault of the state legislature and governor for not stepping up fast enough to woo the company here.
"As California’s most vocal advocates for new industries, high-wage jobs, and homes people can afford our coalition is extremely frustrated that California lost this historic opportunity," the group said in a statement. "Shipbuilding is in California’s heritage, and California was the natural home for Port Alpha."
"While Texas moved quickly and aggressively, California could not provide the clear, expedited approval process needed to compete,” says Joshua Arce, executive director for the California Alliance of Jobs, speaking to the Chronicle. "This is an enormous loss for Solano County, California workers and our state’s manufacturing economy."
The Alliance of Jobs had been pushing for the legislature to approve an expedited environmental review process for the shipyard, and that still has not been voted on.
An anonymous "project insider" tells the Chronicle, "California Forever is still on track — but a major defense contractor choosing not to locate in California sends a major signal."
Many state and local leaders have voiced skepticism — and worse! — about California Forever's plans, and critics have voiced disgust at the major investment by Silicon Valley billionaires into a vague and likely impractical urban utopia vision, when that money could instead be invested in cities that already exist and have a reason for being.
An initial ballot-meaure effort to get around Solano County's growth ordinance, which confines future urban development to the existing cities in the county, was scrapped two years ago when it appeared the political headwinds were strongly against the effort.
Instead, California Forever is now teaming up with the small, economically disadvantaged town of Suisun City, with a plan for the city to annex the group's 60,000 acres of farmland to the city's east. This process is far from a done deal, and environmental advocates in the county have expressed serious concern about the potential impacts of bringing 400,000 new residents and a massive amount of new traffic to the area.
Most recently, the group hired two former aides of Governor Gavin Newsom with state legislative expertise to likely work on pushing their agenda in the legislature, and getting their new city plan in front of the right people in power.
Previously: California Forever Team Adds Two Former Newsom Aides In Clear Political Ploy
Top photo by famingjia inventor/Unsplash
