Futurisitic California city rocked as key tenant bails for Texas

Plodding California legislators are facing blowback after a futuristic, billionaire-backed new city being built in the Bay Area lost out on a massive $3.2 billion shipyard project that would have created 10,000 jobs.

Saronic Technologies, an Austin-based defense contractor, has chosen to build its next-generation “Port Alpha” autonomous shipyard in Brownsville, Texas, instead of Solano County. The decision has sparked criticism from labor leaders, veterans and housing advocates, who blamed Sacramento Democrats for failing to move quickly on special legislation to land one of the largest manufacturing projects in recent state history.

A source familiar with the negotiations told The Post that Saronic executives visited Solano County in September 2025 and April 2026, but state Sen. Christopher Cabaldon, Assemblymember Lori Wilson and members of the Solano County Board of Supervisors declined to meet with the company.

The April meeting was held inside the Solano County Administration Building.

Saronic nearly abandoned California after those visits but remained in the running only because of what one described as a “Herculean effort” by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration to convene regulators and keep negotiations alive.

Cabaldon and the govenror’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“California had a real opportunity to bring home a $3.2 billion shipyard, 10,000 permanent jobs and thousands of union construction jobs — but state leaders failed to act with the urgency this project demanded,” Joshua Arce, executive director of the California Alliance for Jobs, said in a statement.

California Forever — the billionaire-backed city project founded by former Goldman Sachs trader Jan Sramek and financed by Silicon Valley heavyweights including Laurene Powell Jobs, Michael Moritz, Reid Hoffman, Marc Andreessen and the billionaire Collison brothers — had hoped the shipyard would become the anchor industrial tenant for the development.

“While Texas moved quickly and aggressively, California could not provide the clear, expedited approval process needed to compete,” Arce said. “This is an enormous loss for Solano County, California workers and our state’s manufacturing economy.”

Nestor Aliga, a Vallejo-based Marine Corps and Army veteran, said the loss should serve as a warning to lawmakers. While the Saronic deal is dead, other suitors are considering bids on building out a shipyard.

“This is a wake-up call for our legislators to act now so our beloved county and state can still get shipbuilding business,” Aliga said. 

“I think that we must collaborate better with those actively opposing the legislation to find a balance that will address their concerns while also improving the quality of life for everyone.”

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The project, which was expected to create roughly 10,000 permanent jobs and another 10,000 construction jobs, had been viewed as the anchor industrial tenant for the proposed California Forever development in eastern Solano County.

The San Francisco Chronicle first reported Wednesday that Saronic had selected Texas over California.

California Forever officals contend California lost despite having the stronger site. An unusually broad coalition — from the State Building & Construction Trades Council of California and California Conference of Carpenters to the California Association of REALTORS, California YIMBY and the Abundance Network — argued on behalf of the proposal.

Instead, they say, California’s sclerotic process to pass legislation to speed up the permitting process doomed the bid.

The political backlash quickly spilled onto social media.

A Facebook page called “I’m From Fairfield Too” slammed Cabaldon for failing to help close a deal with Saronic. The post claimed Cabaldon had recently assured local realtors the project would come to Solano County without special legislation.

“Cabaldon has a massive egg on his face, because just this Tuesday, at the Northern Solano Realtors meeting, they told the group he was sure Saronic was coming to Solano without any special legislation or incentives,” the post said.

“Well, he was wrong and now 10,000 Solano families will pay the price for his petulant child behavior.”