Suisun City sold California Forever its downtown foothold. The larger build is moving.

In late May 2026, the Suisun City Council voted to sell seven downtown waterfront parcels to California Forever for approximately $1.14 million. California Forever is the Silicon Valley-backed development group that has accumulated more than 50,000 acres of eastern Solano County farmland over the past several years. The purchase covers a few blocks near the waterfront. The project behind it is a different scale entirely.

The bigger bet: 22,873 acres and a city of 400,000

California Forever is pursuing a proposal to annex approximately 22,873 acres of its eastern Solano land into Suisun City — land that sits adjacent to Travis Air Force Base. The plan envisions new neighborhoods, commercial areas, open space, and roughly 1,400 acres of industrial park, with a buffer zone protecting Travis AFB operations. About a quarter of the annexed acreage would be set aside for that buffer. The proposed population at full build-out: 400,000 people — which would make this one of the largest proposed city expansions in California’s modern history.

How the money works

Under the agreement the city has signed, California Forever pays an initial $400,000, with a $10 million payment contingent on LAFCO — the county’s Local Agency Formation Commission — ultimately approving the annexation. The downtown property purchase is a separate transaction, framed by California Forever as investment in the existing waterfront independent of the larger annexation talks.

When this actually becomes housing

An Environmental Impact Report is currently being prepared, with completion expected by end of 2026. After that, the LAFCO process takes an estimated six to 18 months. A best-case scenario puts the earliest construction start at late 2027 or 2028. This is not a near-term housing supply story for Solano County. It is a long-horizon land use story — the kind that moves land values slowly, then suddenly.

Community reaction: divided

Suisun City voters are far from unanimously enthusiastic. Polling of Suisun City voters has found roughly 58 percent opposed to expanding the city and only 19 percent in support. Public meetings have drawn opposition over the project’s scale, the pace of the environmental review, and concerns about how the downtown parcels were appraised. At the same time, some waterfront business owners see the investment as long-overdue economic activity in an underbuilt downtown.

What changed since May: LAFCO pumps the brakes

Two developments since the downtown parcel sale have complicated the road forward. Solano County's LAFCO — which must approve any annexation petition — has asked Suisun City to pause its process while the county updates its own General Plan. The county board is not supportive of the California Forever project, and LAFCO is composed of county-appointed members; a pause request at this stage signals the environmental and regulatory tracks are not running in parallel as smoothly as proponents hoped. Separately, Rio Vista's mayor publicly broke with Suisun City's approach in May 2026, arguing that California Forever's annexation should have been directed to Rio Vista instead. Inter-city politics are now a live variable in the LAFCO calculus. The draft EIR — which received 616 pages of public comment from 38 individuals and organizations raising concerns about water supply, traffic, and regional biodiversity — has not been released for final public review as of early June 2026.

What it means for Solano real estate right now

For buyers and owners in Solano County, there are two timescales to track. In the near term, this project has no direct effect on supply or prices — the EIR isn’t finished, LAFCO hasn’t acted, and no home will be framed for years. But for investors evaluating land or long-hold properties in eastern Solano — especially near the proposed annexation area or Travis AFB — the context has shifted. Land pricing eventually catches up to approved development expectations. The time to understand that geography is before the LAFCO vote, not after.

One more Solano data point: in late May, the Vallejo City Council unanimously approved increasing the unit count at the Fairview at Northgate mixed-use development — anchored by an incoming Costco at Admiral Callaghan Lane — from 178 to 245 homes. The Costco ribbon-cutting is expected this fall; home construction starts 2027.

The EIR isn’t done. LAFCO hasn’t voted. But money is already moving.

My read for clients: if you’re buying in Solano County right now, California Forever is context — not a catalyst. The LAFCO pause request and the Rio Vista split make the timeline longer and more uncertain than it appeared six weeks ago. Don’t price in an upside that LAFCO hasn’t approved — and LAFCO says no all the time. But if you’re a long-term holder or evaluating land in eastern Solano, you want to understand this process and its geography before the formal approval stage. That’s the kind of work I’ll do with you. Call me.