Suisun City, California Forever announce deal for first phase of downtown property sale
By Carlos E. Castañeda
Suisun City and the California Forever development group announced on Tuesday that they have finalized the first phase of a revitalization plan for the downtown area of the city.
The deal involves transferring ownership of 701 Main Street, a building that originally served as a bank and later a restaurant, and two parking lots to the California Forever group. As part of the agreement, Suisun City will lease the parking lots from California Forever for $1 per year and operate them for public use.
It is the first portion of a $1.5 million purchase that will include the adjacent historic Lawler House and Suisun Harbor Theatre, both shuttered since the 2010s.
The city said in a press release that its Downtown Specific Plan envisions a mix of commercial and residential uses for the parcels, with California Forever conducting outreach with the community as the planning progesses.
“This closing is one of the key pieces to revitalizing our downtown,” said Bret Prebula, Suisun City city manager, in a prepared statement. “We now have a committed partner who owns these properties and is ready to invest in them, and that is how a specific plan stops being a document and starts becoming buildings.”
California Forever has been seeking to build a new community of housing, retail and jobs on thousands of acres of rural Solano County it has purchased. Backed by Silicon Valley tech billionaires, the development group’s 2024 ballot measure to rezone 17,500 acres of farmland ran into stiff opposition, and it withdrew the measure.
Since then, the group has pivoted to a traditional route of negotiating with the county, completing a environmental impact report, and expanding the city of Suisun City, which would annex portions of California Forever land, becoming 10 times larger than its current size. The annexations would allow the project to sidestep the countywide voter-referendum requirements.
According to Prebula, the downtown building purchases are seen as a signal from California Forever that it wants to invest in the long-term vibrancy of Suisun City. California Forever CEO Jan Sramek has said the downtown acquisitions accelerate the group’s investments into Suisun City’s downtown and help bridge a budget shortfall for the city.
California Forever plans for Suisun City continue to be opposed by segments of the city’s population, who have voiced their concerns at recent community meetings. The political blowback has also led local groups to initiate recall petitions for Suisun City city council members.
