California Forever files plan to expand Suisun City for massive new community east of town.
California Forever, the company seeking to build a new city in Solano County, has formally submitted its first complete proposal to Suisun City — the first tangible step toward turning its ambitious vision into a formal planning process.
The application, filed October 3, 2025, asks Suisun City to expand its boundaries eastward to include approximately 22,900 acres of farmland and open space where the company envisions a dense, walkable community with jobs, housing, and its own infrastructure.
If approved, the expansion would add what’s called the Suisun Expansion Area to the city’s General Plan and zoning map — effectively folding the area into Suisun’s long-term growth boundary and giving California Forever a pathway to develop within city limits.
Documents submitted with the application outline a long-term build-out of up to 174,000 homes, 147 million square feet of nonresidential development, and 225,000 jobs, supported by new roadways, utilities, and causeways across marshland east of Suisun.
The plans detail new zoning districts for mixed-use neighborhoods, industrial campuses, and research facilities, along with a framework for open space and civic areas.
California Forever also proposes its own water, sewer, and storm-drain systems, separate from the city’s existing networks — suggesting the project would function as a self-contained extension of Suisun rather than a traditional subdivision.
Announcing the filing on social media, CEO Jan Sramek described the proposal as part of a larger effort to rekindle California’s capacity to imagine and build again.
“California used to do big things,” Sramek wrote. “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.”
The Specific Plan divides the project into six primary areas — Downtown, Solano Foundry, Maker Districts East and West, District Centers North and East, and Central Park — each intended to create a walkable mix of housing, employment, and public amenities.
The Downtown core would rise to about eight stories, anchored by two regional transit lines, while Solano Foundry spans roughly 2,200 acres as an advanced manufacturing and innovation hub for aerospace, energy, and defense industries.
The Maker Districts would blend light industrial space with arts, nightlife, and housing, and the three-mile-long Central Park would trace “The Big Ditch,” a natural drainage channel running north through the site.
The application also includes a sweeping Travis Protection Zone of about 5,700 acres to protect military flight operations and a 1,410-acre Lambie Industrial Park, whose uses would remain as currently permitted by Solano County.
To accommodate the plan, the company is asking the city to approve amendments to Suisun’s General Plan, Zoning Code, and Municipal Code. The proposal introduces new zoning designations — including Industry & Technology, Maker & Manufacturing, and Neighborhood Mixed Use — and formally adds the Suisun Expansion Area Plan and Specific Plan as governing land-use documents. It also calls for updates to city law that would allow the project to manage its own utilities and classifies State Route 12 as a freeway/expressway corridor through the expansion area.
Suisun City Manager Bret Prebula confirmed that the city has deemed California Forever’s application complete and described early collaboration with the company as positive.
“They have really listened,” Prebula said in a city announcement. “We’ve been having high-level conversations about jobs, housing, transportation, and open space, and they’ve been responsive to our needs and concerns for the region. We expect that dialogue to continue as the project evolves.”
Prebula said a public scoping meeting for the environmental review is expected within 30 to 45 days, followed by technical studies and a draft Environmental Impact Report for public comment. The city’s next community conversation on the project is scheduled for October 27 at The Vault in downtown Suisun.
Given the site’s location and scale, the application includes a Fire Protection Plan and local Fire Code amendments tailored to the area. The plan calls for dual access routes for large structures, buffer zones between wildlands and development, and new fire-station sites distributed across the community — and confirms that the core development area lies outside California’s Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone.
California Forever first surfaced publicly in 2023 after acquiring more than 50,000 acres of farmland between Fairfield and Rio Vista. The company had initially planned to introduce its project through a countywide ballot measure but withdrew the initiative before it reached voters, citing timing and procedural challenges.
Now, the company is pursuing a conventional route through city government. The Suisun City filing marks its first attempt to formalize that ambition through local planning law.
If the city approves the expansion framework, the proposal would then move to the Solano Local Agency Formation Commission — the state-mandated body that must sign off on any boundary change or annexation.
The LAFCO review typically includes environmental analysis, public hearings, and a possible protest vote among affected landowners before annexation can become official.
