George Lucas unveils plans to build affordable housing complex

show ad

Home Top

Student's MOTHER leaves teacher unconscious in school hall after 'kicking and strangling' her to the ground - as other kids piled in
'Maybe if I was missing some teeth I could get a job here?': Glamorous ESPN reporter suspended after video of horror attack on parking lot attendant reveals her ugly side
Babysitter only realized he was looking after abducted child when he read Amber Alert on Facebook
Reserve deputy, 73, who shot dead suspect after mistakenly pulling out his gun instead of his Taser apologizes to man's family - but insists the mix-up could have happened to anyone
'I smiled at her after the verdict and nodded my head': Aaron Hernandez's mother reveals unlikely bond she developed with victim's mother during murder trial
Doctors campaign to get 'charlatan' Dr Oz booted from Columbia University faculty because of his 'lack of integrity' and 'quack treatments'
Woman who accused Heisman winner Jameis Winston of sexual assault files civil lawsuit in Florida court to 'hold him accountable'
'Girl in the box' psycho Cameron Hooker who kept kidnapped hitchhiker in a tiny box 23 hours a day for SEVEN years is denied parole and told: 'You'll spend 'at least' 15 more years in jail'
'Chewie, we're home': Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens releases second trailer that features Harrison Ford and Chewbacca
New Star Wars droid ISN'T a CGI: BB-8's ball body can move in any direction - but how does it work?
Is this YODA hidden in a medieval manuscript? Biblical character painted in 14th century book resembles Star Wars hero
Lucas strikes back - against his neighbors! Film director to build hundreds of affordable homes in millionaire neighborhood after they blocked him from building a studio
Fancy flying in R2-D2? Japanese airline unveils bizarre new livery in honour of Star Wars and its much-loved robot
Chinese pharmaceutical company comes under fire for drying dead cats like laundry for 'research purpose'
'That's a s****y way to ask someone to prom': The elaborate high school 'promposal' that did NOT go to plan as date ends up bursting into TEARS
Use salt to wash spandex, turn wool inside out and NEVER iron rayon: How to care for every fabric in your wardrobe revealed
Sleeping habits of the world revealed: The US wakes up grumpy, China has the best quality shut-eye and South Africa gets up the earliest
So THAT'S why our suitcases get damaged! Video footage shows automated baggage system slamming bags onto carousels behind the scenes at airport
Shocking moment a teacher grappled a student to the ground and placed him in a CHOKEHOLD is caught on camera
Woman burns to death and her friend is critically injured after losing control of their Lamborghini 'at high speed' and hitting another car head-on
Shock as beloved high school coach, 51, dies ONE DAY after leaving work sick and going to doctor only to be diagnosed with leukemia
'I wish my teacher knew I don't have a friend to play with me': The heartbreaking letters third-graders wrote to their teacher that revealed their secret tears
Comeback kid: Brain-damaged Bryan Stow who was left permanently disabled after attack at Dodgers stadium throws first pitch
Teenager discovers his parents and six younger siblings all dead from suspected food poisoning at their home in Turkey

Neighbors blocked Lucas' plans to build a film studio in 2012
Now he plans to erect a housing complex on land off Lucas Valley Road
The community would provide housing to 224 low-income families
With huge support from low-income community, his neighbors will be hard-pressed to block the proposal

By Mia De Graaf For Dailymail.com

Published: 14:04 EST, 16 April 2015 | Updated: 20:47 EST, 16 April 2015

603

View
comments

His neighbors wouldn't let him build a film studio.

So George Lucas is retaliating in a way that only the cream of Hollywood could - by building the largest affordable housing development in the area.

The complex of affordable housing, funded and designed by the Star Wars director, would provide homes to 224 low-income families.

And there's very little his fellow Bay Area residents can do about it.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

Making waves: George Lucas has unveiled plans to build an affordable housing complex on the plot of land in Lucas Valley, Bay Area, which his neighbors are determined to leave untouched

Lucas dropped plans for a Lucasfilm Ltd studio complex on Lucas Valley Road in 2012.

Citing opposition from neighbors, a spokesman said they did not want to be seen as an 'evil empire'.

But it seems the award-winning director is determined to do something with the 1,039 acres of land on his Grady Ranch estate in Marin County, California.

The project, submitted for planning on Wednesday, would span 52 acres and cost around $200m.

Just a few meters from his own Skywalker Ranch, the community would consist of two complexes.

One would contain 120 two-bedroom and three-bedroom homes for low-income families.

The other would be for pensioners: a four-story building with 104 one-bedroom or two-bedroom apartments.

Because Lucas proposes to fund the project himself, his lawyers say he has the right to select who lives there.

However, his representatives insist the project is not a form of retaliation.

'He said "we've got enough millionaires here. What we need is some houses for regular working people",' his lawyer Gary Giacomini told CBS.

Scrapped: This was a rendering of the film studio that Lucas planned to build on the estate but was overruled

Idyllic: The 224-home community would be built in this idyllic spot of California for low-income families

Marin County Supervisor Steve Kinsey told the station: 'George Lucas said, "if I’m not going to do what I wanted to do there, what can I do that would be really beneficial to this community?"'

It is not the first time Lucas has courted controversy.

In November 2014, residents of Chicago filed a lawsuit against Lucas' plans to build a museum along the shore of Lake Michigan.

The case was a major blow to the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, a shrine his collection of art and movie memorabilia, after negotiations over a waterfront site fell through with San Francisco.