George Lucas' Housing Project To Cause A Stir

Filmmaker George Lucas has filed plans to pay for an affordable housing project on his own land in the wealthy San Francisco Bay-area.

The Star Wars billionaire's 224-unit proposal comes three years after he dropped plans to build a movie studio in the area because of a bitter dispute with neighbours.

Gary Giacomini, a lawyer for Lucas' Skywalker Properties, told Sky News: "He's (Lucas) said, 'We've got plenty of millionaires in this county, but we don't have any housing for workers or seniors.'

"There'll be some opposition to this and we expect a yeasty process, but people will be clawing to get these units."

The rental development, submitted to the planning board on Wednesday, would house retirees and lower-income workers in rural Marin, one of America's richest counties.

The project would cost up to $200m (£133m) and span 52 acres of Lucas' vacant 1,039-acre Grady Ranch estate, said Mr Giacomini, not far from the director's Skywalker Ranch.

The attorney said that because Lucas plans to pay for 100% of the cost he would be able to pick which types of workers may apply, such as teachers, nurses and police.

The plan is for 120 two- and three-bedroom workforce homes in one four-storey and two two-storey complexes.

There would also be 104 one- and two-bedroom homes for pensioners in a four-storey complex.

The project would be "screened" from Lucas Valley Road, Mary Stompe, of PEP Housing, the developer which would build the homes, told Sky News.

It would include a community centre, a pool, terraced gardens, an orchard, a community garden and a barn.

If all goes as planned, the development could break ground in 2018 and be ready for occupancy the next year, said Ms Stompe.

Lucas has previously denied the plan is revenge for a past planning row with neighbours.

He first proposed the residential development in 2013, but backed out amid difficulty winning government subsidies.

By offering to fund the project out of his own pocket, he would cut through much of the red tape.

When the idea was originally put forward, a local residents' association spokeswoman told the New York Times Lucas was "inciting class warfare".

In 2012, neighbours thwarted the director's plan to build a state-of-the-art film studio with indoor and outdoor sound stages on his land.

The homeowners' association raised concerns about increased traffic and said "our dark starry skies would be destroyed" by light pollution.

Lucasfilm said at the time he would instead choose a place "that sees us as a creative asset, not as an evil empire".

The director owns about 12,000 acres in the hills of Marin County where he moved a year after his 1978 movie Star Wars became a box office phenomenon. The trailer for the latest sequel was released on Thursday .

Lucas Valley is named after a 19th century rancher who is no relation to the filmmaker.