California Forever Inc., Flannery Associates, Solano County Board of Supervisors, Solano County CA, Solano County Orderly Growth Committee, Solano County Registrar of Voters, Solano Together, Travis Air Force Base

CA Forever Preempts County’s ‘Neutral’ Impact Report With Not-At-All Suspiciously Timed Release of Self-Commissioned Bonus Report

[Note from BenIndy: According to this recent post from CA Forever, Blue Sky Consulting has completed a six-month economic impact analysis of the East Solano Plan. Unsurprisingly, the company CA Forever hired to produce this very rosy report not only predicts massive economic windfalls for Solano, it also promises jobs for just about everyone should voters advance the project past the ballot. (And don’t forget CA Forever are also promising Solano a sports center, and a 5,000-person pool – throw in a pony and we might be persuaded to change our vote, too.) But it’s not the content of the report that is drawing early detractors out of the woodwork. It’s the timing.While the CA Forever post indicates that the report it commissioned has been in the works for 6 months, there are some indications that the billionaire-backed company may have hustled to present and release their extra-special, not-at-all-suspicious, awesome bonus report to Solano voters before a ‘neutral’ report recently mandated by Solano County’s Board of Supervisors is made available to the public.]

California Forever preempts county with own economic impact report

Jan Sramek, chief executive officer of California Forever, speaks during the Solano County Board of Supervisors meeting at the Government Center in Fairfield, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. | Aaron Rosenblatt / Daily Republic.

Daily Republic, by Todd R. Hansen, July 16, 2024

FAIRFIELD — California Forever has released a 22-page highly technical economic impact report on its East Solano Plan – one week ahead of Solano County presenting its own impact assessment to the Board of Supervisors.

The California Forever report – compiled by Oakland-based Blue Sky Consulting Group, the same firm that did the impact analysis on the proposed solar farm – addresses primarily the first phase of the proposed project.

It includes the construction value of the project, and the value of what it terms ongoing activity.

The first phase of construction would generate, on average, $2.4 billion in economic value annually, and once built out and fully occupied, there would be another $16.14 billion in ongoing activity, the report states. That figure would only grow with additional construction adding to the number of residents and businesses.

The first phase includes “approximately 23,000 new homes for 50,000 new residents, 10 million square feet of commercial and other buildings, and a 2,000-megawatt solar power generation facility,” the document states.

Specifically, the construction would include:

  • Residential: 22,804 new units of housing for future residents of the new community.
  • Non-residential: 10.1 million square feet of non-residential buildings.
  • Infrastructure: All basic infrastructure necessary to support the new residents and businesses, including roads and bike paths, and infrastructure for electricity, water, wastewater, telecommunications and transportation.
  • Public facilities: Schools, libraries, parks and open space, and government administration and public safety buildings.
  • Solar facility: 2,000 megawatt of panel capacity and 5,000 megawatt of battery storage.

In total, residential development costs are an estimated $11.1 billion ($0.86 billion annually); non-residential construction costs are an estimated $2.6 billion ($0.20 billion annually); infrastructure, public buildings and solar facility are an estimated $19.05 billion ($1.47 billion annually).

“Phases Two and beyond would be a continuation of the development beyond 50,000 residents. All dollar amounts are presented in … (2024) dollars. Actual amounts would likely be larger due to increases in line with inflation.”

The executive summary states that construction of the first phase, if the initiative is placed on the Nov. 5 ballot and backed by the voters, would occur between 2028 through 2040.

Read more at the Daily Republic…

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>> Get involved… Solano Together is another local organization opposing California Forever. Between now and November, you can get a yard sign from Solano Together and send Solano Together a much needed donation.

>> Read more… BenIndy coverage of the billionaire land grab, California Forever / East Solano Plan.