# California Forever American real estate development corporation founded by [[Jan Sramek]] in 2017 that, through its subsidiary [[Flannery Associates]], quietly bought roughly 60,000 acres of southeastern Solano County farmland to build a new walkable city from scratch on the edge of the Bay Area. The project is the highest-profile example of Silicon Valley capital trying to manufacture a city — and a stress test of whether tech-oligarchy money can overcome local democracy, environmental review, and California land-use law. ## Founding & Ownership - Founded **2017** by [[Jan Sramek]], a Czech-born former Goldman Sachs trader who had previously cycled through Stripe and a couple of San Francisco startups. - Operated in secrecy for six years through subsidiary [[Flannery Associates]] LLC, which spent more than **$800M** assembling parcels around the Montezuma Hills near Travis [[Air Force]] Base — making it briefly the largest landowner in Solano County before its backers were publicly identified. - **Unmasked August 2023** in NYT/CNBC reporting after a federal lawsuit from local farmers forced disclosure of the buyers. - Headquarters: Solano County, CA. Sramek and family relocated from San Francisco to set up shop on-site. ## Backers A who's-who of Silicon Valley capital, collectively ~$900M committed: - **[[Marc Andreessen]]** & Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen — a16z co-founder - **[[Michael Moritz]]** — former chairman of [[Sequoia Capital]] - **[[Reid Hoffman]]** — LinkedIn co-founder, [[Greylock]] partner - **[[Laurene Powell Jobs]]** — [[Emerson Collective]] - **[[Patrick Collison]]** & **[[John Collison]]** — Stripe co-founders (Sramek's former employer) - **[[Chris Dixon]]** — a16z crypto - **[[Daniel Gross]]** — AI Grant / Cue / former Safe Superintelligence - **[[Nat Friedman]]** — former GitHub CEO, Meta Superintelligence Labs - **[[John Doerr]]** — chairman of [[Kleiner Perkins]] (added 2026-05-17; missing from earlier draft) Backers describe it as a long-term civic project; critics describe it as a private-government play by men who have publicly soured on existing cities. **All four major Sand Hill Road VC firms are represented** in the LP base: Andreessen (a16z), Moritz (Sequoia), Hoffman (Greylock alumnus), Doerr (Kleiner Perkins). ## What They're Building The current plan, scoped to **Suisun City annexation** rather than the original countywide ballot route, rests on three "tentpoles": ### 1. Solano Foundry Large-scale advanced manufacturing park targeting **defense, robotics, and dual-use industrial production**. [[Saronic Technologies]] is reportedly evaluating a **$3B autonomous-vessel drone factory** on the site, projected at ~10,000 jobs. ### 2. Solano Shipyard A proposed **1,400-acre shipyard near Collinsville**, pitched as national-security infrastructure to revive U.S. naval shipbuilding capacity. Sramek has framed this as the project's pitch to the Trump administration — a defense-industrial base story rather than a utopian-city story. ### 3. Walkable Residential City Up to **400,000 residents** on ~17,500 acres of the original 60,000-acre footprint, marketed as a dense, walkable, transit-oriented alternative to Bay Area sprawl. ## Timeline - **2017** — Flannery Associates incorporated; quiet land buys begin. - **2017–2023** — ~$800M spent; ~60,000 acres assembled. - **Aug 2023** — Backers publicly identified; "California Forever" brand launched. - **Jul 2024** — Withdrew Solano County ballot initiative after polling collapsed and a CalMatters-led promises analysis exposed the lack of binding commitments. Project effectively on hold for 2+ years pending EIR. - **Oct 14, 2025** — Suisun City Council votes to accept the development application; pivots strategy from countywide vote to municipal annexation. - **Oct 20, 2025** — Suisun City formally accepts CF's application for **22,900-acre expansion**. - **Jan 21, 2026** — Signed **40-year project labor agreement** with the Napa/Solano Building Trades Council and Northern California Carpenters Union — described as the **largest construction labor agreement in U.S. history** by participant count. - **Q1 2026** — Draft EIR targeted for public comment. - **Mar 25, 2026** — Sramek publicly defends the vision at a high-profile Press Democrat interview as opposition organizes under Solano Together. - **May 13, 2026** — Rio Vista Mayor Edwin Okamura publicly accuses CF of "personal attacks and inaccurate claims"; intra-county dispute erupts after Rio Vista's parallel annexation talks break down and Suisun City accepts the 22,000-acre proposal essentially as-submitted. ## Financial Mechanics with Suisun City Per the Exclusive Reimbursement Agreement: - Suisun City costs of evaluating the proposal are reimbursed by California Forever. - CF pays Suisun City **$3.5M** on certification of the EIR. - CF pays Suisun City an additional **$6.5M** after LAFCO approves annexation. - Suisun City Mayor Alma Hernandez and City Manager Bret Prebula have framed the deal as essential to "fiscal survival" of the 30,000-person city. ## Approval Path 1. **Suisun City** — complete EIR + council vote (targeted end of 2026). 2. **Solano LAFCO** — Local Agency Formation Commission must approve the annexation; typically 6–18 months. LAFCO has already flagged "incomplete elements and omissions" in CF's notice of preparation. 3. **Litigation** — opponents (Solano Together coalition, Rio Vista, agricultural interests) have signaled they will sue regardless of outcome. ## Controversy - **Secrecy and farmer lawsuit** — Flannery sued local farmers for ~$510M alleging price-fixing during the land-assembly phase. Suit was dropped in 2024. - **Travis AFB proximity** — CIFIUS concerns: investigators initially probed whether the land assembly threatened the air base. Cleared, but the optics persist. - **"Walkable city" branding vs. defense-industrial pivot** — the project has visibly shifted from utopian-urbanist marketing in 2023 to a defense-manufacturing pitch in 2025–26, tracking the Trump administration's procurement priorities. - **Promises problem** — CalMatters analysis found that most of CF's marketing commitments (water, schools, transit, affordability) are not legally binding on any successor owner once the land is annexed and entitled. - **Local democracy concerns** — critics argue Suisun City (pop. 30,000) is being used as a vehicle to land-use-approve a city of 400,000 without a countywide vote. ## Connections to Broader KB Themes - **Defense tech ecosystem** — the [[Saronic Technologies]] shipyard tie-in places CF inside the [[Anduril]] / [[Founders Fund]] orbit of dual-use manufacturing builds. - **Tech oligarchy / city-state pattern** — fits alongside [[Próspera]] (Honduras), [[Praxis]], and [[Erebor]] as examples of Silicon Valley capital trying to engineer parallel jurisdictions. - **a16z civic-engineering thesis** — [[Marc Andreessen]]'s "It's time to build" rhetoric finds its purest test case here. ## See Also - [[Jan Sramek]] - [[Flannery Associates]] - [[Saronic Technologies]] - [[Marc Andreessen]] - [[Michael Moritz]] - [[Reid Hoffman]] - [[Laurene Powell Jobs]] - [[Watching]] — actively tracked story - [[Patchwork]] — The theoretical framework - [[Próspera]] — Parallel charter city implementation (Honduras) - [[Praxis]] — Parallel charter city startup - [[Pronomos Capital]] — Charter city VC fund; adjacent network - [[Patri Friedman]] — Competitive governance advocate - [[Seasteading Institute]] — Earlier exit implementation - [[Freedom Cities]] — Trump's populist translation ## Development Log | Date | Development | Source | |------|------------|--------| | **Aug 2023** | Flannery Associates' Silicon Valley backers publicly identified after 6 years of secret land buys | NYT, CNBC | | **Jul 2024** | CF withdraws Solano County ballot initiative; project on hold pending EIR | California City News | | **Oct 14, 2025** | Suisun City Council votes to accept development application — strategy pivot from countywide vote to municipal annexation | KQED, ABC10 | | **Oct 20, 2025** | Suisun City formally accepts application for 22,900-acre expansion | Local News Matters | | **Jan 21, 2026** | 40-year project labor agreement signed with Napa/Solano Building Trades + NorCal Carpenters — billed as largest construction PLA in U.S. history | California Forever, [[SF Standard]] | | **Jan 22, 2026** | SF Standard: CF betting on Trump administration + union deals to unlock shipyard pitch | SF Standard | | **Mar 2026** | Draft EIR enters public comment window; LAFCO flags "incomplete elements" in notice of preparation | Local News Matters, Mendocino Voice | | **Mar 25, 2026** | Sramek publicly defends vision in Press Democrat interview as Solano Together coalition organizes opposition | Press Democrat | | **May 13, 2026** | Rio Vista Mayor Edwin Okamura accuses CF of "personal attacks and inaccurate claims"; intra-county feud erupts after Rio Vista's parallel annexation talks collapse | Press Democrat | ## Next Steps to Track - **Draft EIR public comment period** — close date and volume/quality of objections - **Suisun City Council EIR certification vote** — targeted end of 2026 - **Solano LAFCO petition filing** — once Suisun City certifies (6–18 month process) - **Saronic shipyard MOU/announcement** — whether the $3B drone factory commitment becomes formal - **Federal/defense procurement angle** — any Pentagon or Navy public endorsement of the shipyard component - **Litigation** — anticipated suits from Solano Together, Rio Vista, or agricultural plaintiffs - **Promises enforceability** — whether annexation conditions impose binding commitments on water, schools, transit, affordability - **Investor capital calls** — whether the existing ~$900M pool is enough through entitlement or backers must add capital