Fancypants Neighbors Stopped George Lucas’ Film Studio, So He’s Building Thousands Of Low-Income Housing Instead

04.17.2015 | Surge Wire |

His neighbors kept him from building a film studio, so George Lucas is building a huge low-income housing development on his Bay Area property instead.

Lucas submitted plans Wednesday to build 224 low-income homes on 52 acres of his idyllic 1,000 acre California ranch, the Daily Mail reports. He designed and is funding the $200 million housing project.

Lucas had to scrap an earlier plan to build a film studio in 2012 after opposition from neighbors, who said they didn’t want to be viewed an “evil empire.” But they’re apparently unable to stop the housing development, his lawyers say, because Lucas is funding it and has the right to choose who lives in the homes.

Lucas “said ‘we’ve got enough millionaires here,'” his lawyer Gary Giacomini told CBS News. “‘What we need is some houses for regular working people.'”

Lucas plans to build one complex with 120 two-bedroom and three-bedroom homes for low-income families, and another four-story building with 104 one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments for pensioners.

The community would be down the road from his 3,000 acre Skywalker ranch. When that ranch was built decades ago, neighbors also complained, saying it would bring in tourists and loud visitors. That time, they were unsuccessful.

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