California Forever: Inside the controversial billionaire-backed city that just suffered a devastating blow

California Forever — a futuristic mega-project aimed at reviving American heavy industry — has tantalized its billionaire-backers while stirring questions over its ability to cut through the state’s notorious bureaucracy to deliver on the lofty vision. The goal is to transform more than 50,000 acres in eastern Solano County into a sprawling economic hub between Sacramento and the Bay Area, bringing advanced manufacturing, defense jobs and hundreds of thousands of homes to a region long squeezed by California’s affordability crisis.Supporters say the project is about far more than building another subdivision.“I’ve dedicated the last decade of my life to the idea that Solano County can be the bridge between California’s past and its future and one of the most important places in America,” California Forever Founder and CEO Jan Sramek said.“Manufacturing for the 21st century, shipbuilding to secure America’s freedom, home building and homeownership for the next generation of Californians, it can all happen right here in the next great American city,” Sramek said.But despite the sky-high ambitions and land purchases of $1 billion, the project has yet to break ground and has been beset by classic California issues like mountains of bureaucracy, plodding legislation, political infighting as well as lawsuits and surly locals who are skeptical of the project.Those hurdles took center stage Friday after defense contractor Saronic Technologies announced it would build its $3.2 billion “Port Alpha” autonomous shipyard in Brownsville, Texas, instead of Solano County — a project expected to create 10,000 jobs.“Solano County was one of the great shipbuilding regions.

This is the time when the United States is ready to invest in a new era of producing naval vessels and commercial vessels at scale and if we don’t move quickly, we’re gonna miss the opportunity,” Jim Wunderman, Head of Public Affairs, California Forever said.California governor ...