Backed by Silicon Valley billionaires, the project aims to blend walkable living with advanced U.S. manufacturing just outside San Francisco
A Manufacturing City Built for the Future
California Forever, the controversial and ambitious project to build a new city in Solano County, has announced plans for a massive tech manufacturing park called Solano Foundry.
- Spanning 2,100 acres, the site is expected to house 40 million square feet of advanced manufacturing space, CEO Jan Sramek said at the Reindustrialize conference in Detroit.
- The Foundry is envisioned as the industrial heart of a larger, walkable city planned to support over 175,000 homes.
Not Just Another Freeway Exit
Sramek emphasized the importance of building factories where top talent wants to live and work — not in isolated industrial zones.
“U.S. manufacturers can’t win by building factories off of random freeway exits in the middle of nowhere,” he tweeted.
“The best people don’t want to work there.”
The Solano Foundry aims to attract hardware, engineering, and AI talent by locating manufacturing close to vibrant housing, transit, and community amenities — all just 40 miles northeast of San Francisco.
Designed for Speed, Sustainability, and Scale
The manufacturing park will be tailored to the needs of modern industrial companies, offering:
- Expedited permitting for faster buildout
- On-site transportation infrastructure for easy movement of goods
- Access to renewable energy to power manufacturing operations sustainably
This all-in-one approach is part of California Forever’s broader mission to rethink American city design for both workers and industries.
A Vision Blending Industry and Urbanism
Solano Foundry is the latest concrete step toward realizing California Forever’s vision of a “utopian,” master-planned city that fuses residential livability with economic resilience.
- The city plan includes walkable neighborhoods, abundant green space, and a heavy emphasis on infrastructure built for people, not just cars.
- The Foundry is expected to serve as a magnet for manufacturing firms, especially those focused on AI hardware, semiconductors, and climate tech.
Billionaire-Backed and Ambitiously Scaled
The project is backed by a group of Silicon Valley investors, including Marc Andreessen, Laurene Powell Jobs, Patrick Collison, and Michael Moritz.
- These funders are betting that bold, long-term planning can restore domestic manufacturing competitiveness while creating a livable, future-proof city.
- While critics have questioned the project’s transparency and scale, California Forever is now demonstrating clear industrial strategy alongside its urban vision.
