Update on Shipbuilding in Solano: Saronic Chooses Texas for Port Project

This Thursday (July 16), the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the autonomous ship company Saronic decided to build “Port Alpha” in Brownsville, Texas, instead of Collinsville, California. 

California Forever has been promoting Saronic as the key tenant for their vaguely described shipbuilding scheme in Collinsville, but Solano Together has long argued that Collinsville is simply the wrong place for heavy industrial shipbuilding. 

Over the past few months, Saronic has pushed Pointe Isabel Independent School District in Texas to give the company $517 million in school tax abatements through 2034. In addition, Saronic pushed the Cameron County Commissioners, where Brownsville is located, to approve a 95% tax abatement for 20 years, which amounts to roughly $211 million. 

That’s $728 million of public funds for a company that is valued well over a billion dollars. In the Cameron County Commissioners meeting on June 2nd, 2026, a County Judge asked Saronic representatives whether the company would consider Brownsville if the County did not approve the tax abatement. Here is the response from the Saronic representative:

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/478890_0ffc964e9e1142328ad1d44cefdd27ad/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Here’s the truth about shipbuilding and California Forever’s real plans for the Delta:

Shipbuilding in the Delta is not practical and would create permanent harm to the Bay-Delta ecosystem.

California Forever's proposal would create incredible and permanent harm to the Suisun Marsh, San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta, California’s water system, and the surrounding environment. As John Durand of UC Davis said in a recent Bay Nature article about Shipbuilding in Collinsville, “Placing industry next to one of the last wildest areas in the San Francisco area, hands down, it’s just a bad idea.” 

Coalition member Elizabeth Patterson wrote an Op-Ed highlighting how the shipbuilding proposal would compromise wetlands and threaten the sensitive Bay-Delta ecosystem. Most concerning is that California Forever is advocating in Sacramento to bypass environmental review for this project, drawing the inevitable conclusion that the impacts are worse than we can possibly imagine.

We must question whether the project is even feasible and if we can even know the cost to taxpayers. Congressman John Garamendi (CD-03) noted in a recent town hall that it’s “extremely expensive to build a new port where there is little or nothing there. Significant infrastructure, significant costs.” A site-specific plan and the plan to finance this project, including how much would fall on taxpayers, is still unclear.

Deception and Conflicts of Interest: Mutual Investors with Mutual Profit Motives

Two days ago, the New York Times reported on Saronic’s lobbying at the federal level and potential conflicts of interest for defense contracting, including Marc Andreesen, a California Forever investor. Marc Andreessen has held advising positions in the White House related to DOGE, AI, and the “Department of War.”

Marc Andreessen’s Venture Capital Firm, a16z, is an investor in California Forever. John Doerr is personally invested in California Forever and is a Chairman at Kleiner Perkins, a venture capital firm also heavily invested in Saronic. 

California Forever and Saronic by no means are the same company, but they do share investors and profit motives—whether that’s in California, Texas, or anywhere they can make money. 

California Forever Had the Ability to Negotiate in Good Faith

California Forever and Saronic had a pathway through the County at the end of the legislative session last year. Solano County Supervisors expressed support in passing legislation that could potentially attract a shipbuilding facility in Collinsville with some common-sense guardrails, yet California Forever walked away from the table. 

Starting at the beginning of this year, California Forever could have worked with a legislator to propose legislation that could be assessed by representatives in Sacramento. They have not done so and continue to advocate for last-minute legislation instead of engaging in a public process in good faith. 

Unlike in Brownsville, Saronic has not made any public presentation to Solano County Supervisors or the public, nor has there been clarity about the policies California Forever is advocating for in Sacramento. Instead, they have been pushing for tax breaks and backroom deals for themselves and the companies that their investors are also invested in, leaving Solano County or the State of California to foot the bill.

Where We Go Now

As indicated in the SF Chronicle Article, California Forever and their partners suggest “that legislation could still advance as a budget trailer bill later this summer.” We have to keep the pressure up so that there is no carve-out for the group.

In regards to shipbuilding in Collinsville, we continue to have concerns about the environmental impacts to the Suisun Marsh, the Delta, and California water sources from a project like this. We are also skeptical that California Forever has not submitted a real project proposal to the County for this shipbuilding site and instead has advocated at the state level to skip environmental review for the site. 

On the other end, we do support the efforts of the City of Vallejo and their Strategic Plan for Maritime Revitalization and bringing jobs to Vallejo. 

Just because Saronic has decided to build their industrial shipbuilding facility in Texas does not mean California Forever will abandon their pursuit of special treatment in Sacramento—their supporters have already said they plan to continue advocating for shipbuilding in the Delta. 

We will stay vigilant and monitor any backroom deals California Forever’s tech billionaires try to use to gain secretive approval of California Forever. Please stay alert for any additional action in the coming weeks. Your voice has been essential to this point and will continue to be.