Saronic Picks Texas for $3.2 Billion Shipyard as California Forever Blames Regulatory Delays
Updated
Updated · KQED · Jul 16
Saronic Picks Texas for $3.2 Billion Shipyard as California Forever Blames Regulatory Delays
3 articles · Updated · KQED · Jul 16
Summary
Saronic said its Port Alpha naval shipyard will go to Brownsville, Texas, instead of California Forever land in Collinsville, wiping out a deal boosters said could have brought 10,000 jobs to Solano County.
California Forever and local business groups said California lost because it could not offer a clear, predictable approval path at the speed Saronic needed, with special state legislation still unpublished and unapproved.
Solano backers called the loss a "devastating outcome," while Vacaville Mayor John Carli blamed local elected officials who criticized the proposal and slowed momentum around the project.
Critics of California Forever celebrated the setback as proof the mega-development had overpromised, even as the company said it will keep pushing the trailer bill and seek another manufacturer for the site.
The reversal leaves Texas with a project previously described as a more than $3 billion shipyard expected to start construction in 2026 and operations in 2028.