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.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is the first portion of a $1.5 million purchase<\/a> that will include the adjacent historic Lawler House and Suisun Harbor Theatre, both shuttered since the 2010s.\u00a0<\/p>\n The city said in a press release<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n “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.” \u00a0<\/p>\n 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<\/a> to rezone 17,500 acres of farmland ran into stiff opposition<\/a>, and it withdrew the measure<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>, becoming 10 times larger than its current size. The annexations would allow the project to sidestep the countywide voter-referendum requirements.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n 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<\/a>. The political blowback has also led local groups to initiate recall petitions for Suisun City city council members<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n