New Lucasfilm Campus Breaks Ground at Presidio

GuyMannDude writes "Lucasfilm has broken ground on the new $300 million special effects campus that he hopes will help San Francisco rival Hollywood as a producer of movie magic. Some see the project as a way for the Presidio (a national park) to become economically self-sufficient while critics claim that level of commercialization is unnecessary."

Comments

Re:It will make Star Wars location shots cheaper.

[Asaaboo]

Well, I frequent the bars around the Presidio, the closed beeing the 'Final Final' directly at Lombard gate. Haven't noticed anything especially strange around there apart from the unusually high percentage of false blondes in the marina district. It is actually a pretty nice area down there. People are friendly, educated, the local Safeway was for time the best place to meet women. There are actually many more women than guys living there. Here we go, this is the real reason those hopelessly geeky artists and programmers want to move from San Rafael to San Francisco city...

might have been cheaper

[alizard]

This might have been more cost-effective and a lot less hassle than trying to expand further in Marin County. There probably isn't that much commercial space in a single blob in the surrounding cities for sale either s buildings or developable.

Particularly since Marin is wall-to-wall NIMBY and upscale enough to make it stick both politically and in local courts. Of course I'm an ex-resident.

While land further north in Sonoma County would have been cheaper, there are certain resources in San Francisco that Lucas probably didn't want to be any further away from. The other case for the Presidio is that it's about as close to the Golden Gate Bridge as one can get, and the commute hassles involved with SF get more unpleasant as one gets further into the city... check a large scale street map and see where the freeways are and aren't to get the idea.

Even post-dot-bomb, there probably isn't enough loose commercial space in the art/media community South of Market for the company physically to fit. 850K square feet is close to 20 acres.

So if Lucas wants a reasonable commute and given the other parameters, this actually makes sense for him. Though possibly not for the park or the surrounding community.

Sure you want to know?

[djupedal]

Use the net, Luke...but you must be warned...it can be shocking to learn some of the relationships that lurk in the past... - at the Presidio. You know, the park with the long military history?

Sellout at the Presidio

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a huge sellout of Federal land, engineered by SF Mayor Willie Brown. It's a long, sad story. This is one of the most beautiful vista points within a city anywhere in the world. From that spot, you can see the bay, the Golden Gate bridge, the bay islands, and the mountains in Marin, but almost no urban clutter. Lucas is putting up an office building.

"Groundbreaking" for this project took place months ago. Letterman Army Hospital was demolished last year, and pilings are already being driven for the new Lucas buildings. I was up there last Friday. What happened this week was just a photo op.

Re:Impact on Park?

[Robert McMillan]

I'm with the group mentioned in that story, the THD. Here's a reprint of a story we ran on why this is a bad deal. Here's a San Francisco Chronicle story about the apparent conflict of interest (you have to scroll halfway down the page) behind the deal.