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George Lucas Building Low-Income Housing Next Door To Millionaires
BarbaraHudson writes His neighbors wouldn't let him build a film studio on his land, 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 — and footing the entire $200 million bill, no government subsidies or grants. The complex of affordable housing, funded and designed by Lucas, would sit on 52 acres of land and provide homes to 224 low-income families, and there's very little his fellow Bay Area residents can do about it, because the land is zoned residential.
Well done George! if you have the money, and you can help other people, specially poor people, just do it!
-- Francisco Rivas C.
So he can spread shit all over it in the Spring to annoy his neighbors.
$200 million dollars for 224 low income family homes. I get that there are lots of construction costs other than just the houses, but that still seems like a pretty steep price per home.
George Lucas is a stud. 1000x Internets to him.
Nearly $1M per home sounds like a lot even by Marin standards, assuming that the cost of land is not included in that $200M figure.
Doing the right thing for the wrong reason is still doing the right thing, I guess. Heh
As an old mentor once told me: They say living well is the best revenge. But there's a lot to be said for the old Screwbowski
$200 million bill
proveide homes to 224 low-income families
I'd like to see the low-income families that can buy $0.9M homes.
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
As "fuck you"s go, that's about as morally commendable as it gets.
-Styopa
The linked article leaves out one important detail. This isn't about retaliation... 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?"
The key word is "proposes". We shall see if this housing is built or if the movie studio project decision is reversed and that built instead.
At his age, he probably doesn't give a hoot and may just build the housing anyway.
What a nice big fuck you. I wish I had the money to give my neighbours as good a fuck you as that.
The best I can do is open my back door and holler "hey, fuck you and your fucking yappie dog and your fucking kids who can never seem to get along".
No further explanation necessary.
Not all 'residential' zonings are the same. Density, construction type, utilities, etc, etc, etc. Even when you meet all the requirements, you practically have to grovel to the zoning board for an approval. Just handling water and sewage for 224 families would scuttle this plan. .... and .... what an asshole. He knew going in what the property was zoned for.
Surely he can provide housing for more than 224 families for 200m, somebody needs to learn simple math.
He could have instead used the land to build very expensive homes, making more than 200m in profit, and then used THAT money to build better affordable housing for more than 224 families. Sure it wouldn't have the same effect of pissing off the neighbours, but he shouldn't be living his life with the sole goal of pissing people off (but then I am talking about the guy who created Jar-Jar Binks, so what do I know?)
I'm sure it's only a matter of time before the Red/Blue dumbasses swarm this forum and start screaming about how this is proof, PROOF that the free market will solve the program of where to house low-income people, then "No it's not!", then "Yes it is!", etc.
Don't forget the houses need support infrastructure - roads, sewerage, utilities, but also 224 homes will need a community hall, a couple of shops, a decent pub, a medical centre and/or dentist and (given this is America) at least seven churches.
Only a portion of the spend will go on houses.
Poor people are like kryptonite to rich people. Kinda sad though.
Now rich fuckers get to enjoy meth labs in their neighborhood like the rest of us!
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
That cost probably includes adding water/electrical/phone/sewer/roads/etc. which all cost quite a bit.
"There are people who do not love their fellow human being, and I _hate_ people like that!" - Tom Lehrer
Lucas claims this is not a revenge plot.
Lucas's representatives said this is not revenge for the blocked film studio, reports The Daily Mail.
I hope that 200m includes the land value, $800000 and change per house would be one hell of a house without it.
For that neighborhood it is low income, its relative. Upper middle class in the neighborhood of the elite 0.1%'ers.
And some things just turn to shit on their own or are shit to begin with. Example: look in the mirror. The man created "Star Wars", made billions. Not a fan of the franchise but it is undoubtedly successful.
This shows that the free market will solve the program of where to house low-income people.
In the UK this newspaper is infamous and synonymous with made up far fetched fiction,,
File next to Soviets have a base on the dark side of the moon and the queens an alien
So it's a $200 million project. For 224 low-income families. It's a huge $892,000 / family. Either he got screwed, or these will be by far the nicest / most luxurious low-income housing area in the world.
At $200M for 224 homes it sounds like he is building an upper middle class housing development. This does not sound like habitat for humanity-like helping the poor.
He should formally get the land re-zoned as "go fuck yourself." That'll show his stuck up neighbors.
Now his servants, gardeners, dog walkers, etc., won't have to commute!
Un millón por casa? Qué estás construyendo, un Sheraton para cada familia pobre?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
The free market would have no trouble housing poor people. It wouldn't be in LEEDS-9billion apartments, or 2000 sq. ft McMansions, but they'd have a place to live.
It's the miles of red tape, especially building standards, not to mention developer/council collusion, that drive up property prices to the point where many people can't afford anywhere to live.
Except that if it was a free market, there'd be a film studio there already...
Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
This guy....everything he touches turns to shit.
No, while his is sticking it up to his peers, the outcome is that 224 low income families will have affordable housing.
Sometimes you do the right thing for the wrong reason. Kudos to Mr Lucas.
"What can I do that would suck more than a studio and that you can't block?"
No its not!!!
I had relatives live near Silicon Valley. They had a 1,200 sq ft ranch house build in the 60s with 2 bed 1 bath, and it was worth $600k in 2000. I wouldn't call $892k house in that area "most luxurious", but I imagine it would be very nice. As nice as my parents' $200k house in the suburbs of Atlanta.
For what it's worth, Star Wars was largely as good as it was because of input from people like his ex-wife. After the divorce, and a (hypothetical, but conveniently timed) cooling off period, we got Han shooting first, Jar-Jar binks, and a villain called Dooku.
All I can think about reading this is the sorry fate of the Salton Riviera, it's as if nothing was learned.
And, don't forget "Sold It To Disney, Bitches" Lane.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
These new residents are all voters; he might get permission to build his studio shortly after they move into their new homes....needs of the many indeed.
Unix, an obscure operating system developed by bored researchers in an attempt to get a better game playing experience.
It's costing him almost $1 million each. Even if he sells them at cost, it's hard to see how it would be "affordable". Maybe he's not planning on breaking even, but that's pretty crazy to spend that much on a low income home.
This reminds me of a community in Independence, Missouri that voted down a tax levy for a new elementary school in their neighborhood. They didn't want the loud kids and extra traffic. So, since it wasn't zoned residential, they got what they deserved, a strip mall. Just what everyone wants in their neighborhood.
Believe me, sub-million houses in the bay area are low income houses.
Troll! All real star wars fans know that Han DID SHOOT FIRST. That fact should not be uttered in the same sentence as such names as Jar-Jar.
You don't do "affordable housing" at cost. It is almost always below cost. He will lose money on this unless he makes it section 8, in which case he will get government vouchers. Not that making money is his goal.
From what I read over at http://www.marincounty.org/mai...
It looks more like:
120 two- and three-bedroom residences in one four-story cluster
Two other two-story clusters
104 one- and two- bedroom residences for seniors in a four-story cluster
Community center
Pool
Terraced gardens
Orchard
Small farm
Barn
Interior roadways with two bridges
Golden Gate Transit District bus stop
"If it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet"
Only because the gov't who is paying everyone welfare permitted them to use the money to see Star Wars!
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
In Marin, the rest of the world's upper middle class is low income.
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Better construction methods are available, and the cost/benefit ratio on building a house that is better in consideration of the infrastructure aspects is much better than it is building a house that is better in consideration of the decoration aspects.
2000 sq. ft mcmansion. LOL.
Just because you're in your mommies basement doesn't make every modest home a mcmansion.
There probably isn't any public transportation out that way, and probably not much shopping for the lower income either. This is a finger in the eye move, not something that can actually help anyone but George put his finger in the HOA's/Town's eye.
That works out to 10,000 square feet per home.
Obviously there are roads and common areas to take into consideration, but that seems really huge. My entire lot size is 6500 square feet with about a 1100 sq ft. foundation house (2000 sq ft finished) sitting on it. That 6500 sq ft. includes driveway, garage, yard, basically everything I have title to.
These properties don't sound like "affordable" houses at all, it sounds like solidly middle class for most areas and probably luxurious for that area. I would generally expect an "affordable" development to have much higher density.
It's costing him almost $1 million each. Even if he sells them at cost, it's hard to see how it would be "affordable". Maybe he's not planning on breaking even, but that's pretty crazy to spend that much on a low income home.
Assuming he's selling them. 104 of them are apartments for pensioners.
Where do I signed up for my government-issued iPhone? I heard that the government hands these out like candy.
Keep in mind when the first 3 came out the gov't wasn't paying everyone welfare. This was back when America was free long before it became 'Murika!
I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
If you had his money it'd probably be worth it to stick it to the neighbors and do low income housing.
I'm sure there will be massive tax breaks for him.
I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
So he wants the cost per unit to be as big as his tax attorneys can make it look. All of the "it's so much per house, he's getting a raw deal" posts can stop now.
sigs are for losers (except to point out that sigs are for losers)
I'm sure a big part of that $200 million is the current valuation of the land, which he bought over 20 years ago.
I'd be surprised if at least $120 million of that number is the result of the increase in the property value for the land.
He's getting relief from property taxes and using land that would otherwise sit vacant. He gets a huge tax write off, something he likely needs for the next few years as his structured buy-out from Disney stacks up in his bank account.
At the same time, he does something good for the community while sticking it to his stuck up neighbors.
The only problem I can see with this "affordable" housing scheme is that, because of the location, it is pretty likely that property taxes will be comparatively high for people living in these homes.
Proverbs 21:19
This presupposes that living next to poor people is a bad thing, or that Lucas thinks living next to poor people is a bad thing. That one word says a lot about the author of the article.
Of being a troll capable of disappointing everybody.
Lucas' very own Mos Eisley!
The housing complexes would be next door to Lucas' Skywalker Ranch. They will consist of two- and three-bedroom homes for low-income families.
He's building low-income housing so his low-income code monkeys have a shorter commute. So they can spend more time at work.
Yes, I saw the bus stop. One bus stop. There's a reason poor areas congregate, besides history (such as old urban centers becoming run-down): if you can't afford a car, there's only so far you can go. These could be very nice suburban garden-apartment living quarters, but a lot less livable if the access to shopping etc. is limited to infrequent bus service.
This is a reference to a Daily Mail article, a very questionable and very bias tabloid. Can somebody link to a more credible news source? As it stands now, I'm entirely prepared to believe that George Lucas was doing this to annoy neighbors, George Lucas was doing this at Steve Kinsey's suggestion to do good (as techstar25 suggests), or this is all entirely made up in one of the Daily Mail's numerous inflammatory articles to sell papers.
Anybody have any insight into the truth of what is going on, and what George Lucas's purported (and real) motivations are? ...
And while I waited 2 minutes to post due to timeouts, I googled (literally) it myself. I'm still not sure I believe it, but http://www.cnet.com/news/george-lucas-to-build-affordable-housing-in-one-of-the-richest-parts-of-america/
So at least the price is in dispute, $150M rather than $200M. I wonder what is the true story... anybody know of any credible news articles of the truth?
If you want to create housing for the poor, there's no way you can do so in a rich neighborhood where the price will be dictated upward by markets (either legitimately through pricing or unintentionally, through loopholes). I predict that within 5 to 10 years, only rich and upper middle class will live in that housing project.
There is a precedent for this. Genshiro Kawamoto likes to give away houses too. Just look at what he did in 2007 in Hawaii.
If I had his money I'd be quickly scrambling to work out how to evade all authories on the entire planet, because I assume he'd want it back by any means?
To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
At $200M for 224 homes it sounds like he is building an upper middle class housing development. This does not sound like habitat for humanity-like helping the poor.
Yeah $900,000 per unit is pretty steep nationally, but it's average for the area.
If demand for bus services go up in a particular area, I'm sure the county transit authority will change "infrequent" to "frequent" for that one line and/or add more lines.
300k homes in my area of the country are usually 5 bed 3 bath 2 car garage .5 acre, I don't think I've seen anything over 500k unless it was a farm or ranch. At that price those are 700k+
Because MOST white people don't want to live around non-whites, so the little shit Lucas is going to ruin their lives for them. How kind of him! Why didn't he send the £200 million to AFRICA to build schools, hospitals, etc. and save tens of thousands of lives?
Zoning density may be an issue here. There may be a mandated minimum lot size to consider.
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
Maybe he will keep a piece of land between him and the new neighborhood, and then the new surrounding neighbors will not complain about a studio......but rather support it.
So the Cadillac driving welfare recipients that Ronald Reagan railed against didn't even receive welfare? Wow, Ronnie must have been senile even earlier than I thought.
Ideology: A tool used primarily to avoid the bother of thinking.
That's how you troll!
He's playing a game of brinkmanship. And he can afford the consequences if he loses. But he won't lose. Either the neighbors will cave in on the film studio or they'll find a way to stop him. Those are the only two outcomes. The housing will never happen.
300k homes in my area of the country are usually a thing of the past.
They must be including the value of the land in that calculation, which Lucas already owns.
What you don't understand is that it has made a huge difference in that while student achievement has remained level, kids have been getting exponentially dumber every year...
I'm only about half serious.
Well done George. Serves them all right! Let's hear their complaints about affordable housing.
This guy....everything he touches turns to shit.
Yeah! You can totally tell he ditched the courses in philanthropy and real-estate back in film school.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
You seem to forget that you can't simply divide the sum and get an actual price per house. There's all kind of infrastructure embedded in the total bill.
No it's not. In areas where real estate is priced sky-high, most of the cost is for the land. Since he already owns the land, it sounds like the $900,000 per residence is purely construction costs, which is an insanely huge amount. Location doesn't matter as much for construction costs since you can just ship in materials and labor if they're overpriced in an area. A typical home costs about $100/sqft to build. So $900k per unit is enough to build a 9000 sqft mansion.
Unless he's planning to use this as a tax deduction and the $200 million cost of the "project" includes estimated value of the land, the numbers just don't add up for low-income housing.
You don't end up with more money than you started with when you get tax breaks.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Yep! And with it the jobs needed to keep that studio working. Instead of 224 low income residents, we'd probably have a few thousand middle income residents. Damn the free market!
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
Seriously. And 224 homes on 52 acres? Sounds like luxury villas.
Seems like if it was really about low income families, he would have built many more homes for that price with that amount of land to help the most people.
My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
Sounds about right. Some friends of the family own a house out there that they bought back in the early 70s. They now joke that they always wanted to live in a multimillion dollar house but didn't think it would be the one they are in.
Time to offend someone
These aren't the condos you're looking for.
We play the game with the bravery of being out of range
Script: The Next Hope
Prologue: In a nearby star system, the local senate is embroiled in discussions over a housing and property dispute. Little does anyone know that more sinister elements are afoot...
224 houses on 52 acres sounds like sprawling suburbs. Housing density is way too low and the amount of homes won't even make a ding, he should plunk down like 2,500 houses or condos or townhomes so that they price out closer to what a family can afford. What will soon happen is that the house will be sold at closer to their market value of $1 million dollars each and George Lucas will net a tidy profit and decide to become a real estate tycoon.
Only I can judge you.
were i live you can get a 4K sq ft home with garage on 5 acres of land (upstate NY)
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
if you can't afford a car, there's only so far you can go.
You don't understand Marin County or the Bay Area in general then.
In that area, Affordable means you can only afford a Prius.
We play the game with the bravery of being out of range
I I had his money, he'd be dead, and I'd buy a nice island nation, set myself up as king, and very quickly sever all extradition treaties.
Since I'd rather rule in hell, than serve in heaven, I'd purposely make my island nation a retreat for anyone wishing to escape judicial oversight. Obviously, there'd be a small 'fee' for getting a passport from my nation.
Wait until his rich neighbors learn their land value went down the drain, they are going to kill him.
When you buy a home such infrastructure is either embedded into the price of the home or it is embedded into the taxes of the home, in the later case the infrastructure being municipally provided.
When the price of a housing development is quoted it generally includes all costs, including privately constructed infrastructure for the development. Given the quoted prices, that is an upper middle class neighborhood.
Are we sure they aren't trying to re-make Caddyshack 2?
Is anyone familiar with the low income housing seen in Deus Ex:HR when in China? Where its public showers/bathroom and recreation area, and everyone has a tiny pod/bunk to sleep in? Is that a real thing in China/Japan today? That would be for lowlow income/homeless. I wonder how many people George could make houses for if it was like that.
It won't stay low-income long. Speculators will snap it up in a heart beat and jack the prices up. Nice try, George, but you Jar-Jar'ed it.
Beware of Sales Reps bearing gifts.
224 houses on 52 acres?
That's roughly a quarter acre lot per house. About 11,000 square feet.
Even if the houses only occupy a quarter of that, you're still talking a 2500-3000 square foot house.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
I had a co-worker visit from California who decided to retire here. He was picking out a 400k home in a gated community with a dock on a private lake and thought it was a steal.
Depends on whether or not the reported loss will push him under a tax bracket, open up some loopholes, entitle him to credits...
There's a reason that the US Tax Code is a couple dozen thousands of pages long, you know...
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
Each room comes with movie studio props, and authentic sets. Feel free to pick up a camera and start filming with your buddies at any time. Please clock out when you leave.
It would also depend on if it's the path of least resistance to reach that goal. With this sort of scheme...? No.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Compared to normal, apartment style housing with building loans payed with the monthly fees from the stock holders over the next 20 years? A housing project without a building loan would be a nice change.
There goes the neighborhoods
He's said that he wants people who provide services to the community to be able to afford to live in the community - people such as police officers, teachers, and nurses. This is definitely not section 8 housing, and he doesn't care if it loses money - he's pledged to give at least half his money to charity before he dies.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
What was the excuse for "Joe the Plumber"?
I don't think that they even try to sell you the lie anymore. The just have someone else say it loudly on their behalf.
Wait, what code monkies does he employee currently?
I think you're mixing up Lucas with Bill Gates, (from when he still ran Microsoft).
I believe you are correct. It certainly won't look like Marin City.
He can pick and choose who moves in there because he's not taking any government funding. It's targeted to people who provide services to the area - police, nurses, etc. Not crackheads.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
They'd probably commute from elsewhere, seeing as there wouldn't like, you know, be any houses for them there...?
Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
Fuck Yah!!!
sounds like orange lake in newburgh. simply beautiful, and affordable in comparison to other places
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
I'm not saying he's a saint or anything, but for a billionaire who has changed the shape of our culture, he's actually pretty down to earth. Don't get me wrong, we don't hang out or anything, but in my experience he's consistently gracious, well reasoned, and well intentioned. Mock him all you want for Star Wars decisions, but never question his integrity. He deserves better.
He's still a richard, he's just richarding with his neighbors now.
He doesn't even live on the ranch. He's just being a jerk. Why not donate it as open space or community farming. Why does every square acre have to have a housing complex on it?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skywalker_Ranch
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/11466216.html
Around $1m each to build+land value. So the market value of each would be closer to $2m.
Must be some hollywood accounting going there.
The problem is basically one of not accepting proper editing. Editors exist for a reason. Director's cuts are almost always bad because it cuts out the reality filter that editors provide.
That cost isn't just per home, but also for the infrastructure needed to create a neighborhood: roads, water, electricity, etc.
Looking at some random google satellite images, it seems to me like 52 acres of residential area might also include a school, hospital, shopping center, or many other things... there's also the roads to connect them, etc. Each house isn't getting 52/224 acres.
(Also, the infrastructure - plumbing, electricity, roads, etc, don't usually build themselves for free)
"lt;dr" is the correct response to most of my posts.
He's welcome to build a bunch of million dollar homes in my area. There aren't any homes in my city that are that expensive. Maybe it would make my house worth a few thousand more.
Reminds me that about three years ago the government (using my $$ and your $$) remodeled a bunch of apartments at one of the oldest, most run-down housing projects in a big city near here. Most of the damage they repaired was caused by the residents. They spent about $225,000.00 per apartment. There were hundreds of homes for sell in the county for less than that. Hell, MY house cost less than that! Why didn't they just buy the damned houses and tell the occupants of the housing project to move into them? "Here's your home. Now don't bother asking the taxpayers for more money."
I live in Phoenix, Az, and you'll literally see $1 million homes next to trailer parks. The funny thing is there's no bleed over. The poors stay in their neck of the woods and keep their misery to themselves. I'm guessing whenever one of 'em gets out of line the local sheriff goes down and busts everyone's heads. That's one of the unstated benefits of our drug policy. Just about everyone I knew who was poor used drugs to cope, and it made it really easy to bust them if the cops wanted to...
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
Yeah! Because using your own [massive disparity of] wealth to [give an unfair advantage to] your own children is EVIL!
FTFY.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
the reason we're not seeing an increase in testing scores (which is what you mean by "discernible improvement") is because we've allowing more and more people into higher education since the 70s. Basically we started a "war on poverty" and stopped abandoning the poor to their fates. Before they wouldn't even make it into high school, let alone college. No schooling for disadvantaged children meant no test scores for disadvantaged children.
A little googling and you'd easily find this article explaining it. But it's much more fun to complain about paying taxes (which is the subtext of your post) than look at root causes...
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
Way to go George Lucas!
the problem is it's easy to get funding to build housing for disadvantaged people because it's a cash cow for developers. It's _much_, _much_ harder to get funding for the kinds of long term services that dirt poor people need to succeed, let alone get through the sorts of things they'd need to have secure and stable jobs (e.g. protection for local industries, Unions, workers rights laws, etc). We put people into homes without giving them any means to support themselves or the home we put them in. You saw this with the projects in the 70s when we moved a ton sharecroppers into the city and then Regan got elected and all the funding to help build them up got cut. You're seeing it today with those ghost towns built in China. It's the same thing. Cronyism builds the housing and demand for low taxes abandons it and the people in it.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
and the Ewoks too. And so did every kid who saw those movies. Meesa think yousa stinker!
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
This shows with 4.2 million records loaded into MapBox to create contour map that stop and frisk was not spread evenly across NYC and shows clear patterns of bias: https://www.mapbox.com/blog/co...
--hongpong.com
Have gnu, will travel.
Tax brackets are something lower and middle classes deal with. The rich don't pay that. They already pay less than any of the brackets.
Because doing so would distribute the residents of the project all over town. Ask Memphis how well that worked out.
Uh huh and that's why 84 percent of the taxes are paid by the top 20 percent of earners.
Time to make the poor pull their weight too, not give them a free ride.
I'm assuming that he's talking about Skywalker Ranch which is a whole valley. His neighbors can't even see inside the valley...by design. Why are they complaining? Fun fact, the lake in the middle of the ranch is called Lake Ewok.
You don't do "affordable housing" at cost. It is almost always below cost. He will lose money on this unless he makes it section 8, in which case he will get government vouchers. Not that making money is his goal.
If he is smart he won't do Section 8. The agencies which approve houses for Section 8 housing have ridiculous requirements which basically mean that people who get housing paid for the government are entitled to better housing than people who pay their own way. Also, Section 8 renters can skip out on the lease with no punishment from the Section 8 agency. They also will not assist you in collecting rent or collecting balances due. They refuse to be responsible for the damage their clients cause or for unpaid rents, utilities, etc. Their clients are also more likely to leave with no notice than other renters. If their client leaves without giving proper notice according to the terms of the lease, Section 8 stops paying at the same time, even though the lease indicates 30 days (or more) notice. They will even assist their clients in finding a new place to live prior to the end date of the lease, in violation of the lease. They also take several weeks to schedule an appointment to inspect the house, during which time you are losing money by not having the house rented.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
I think you mean Han shot, Greedo got shot. No second place in a race of one runner.
When Argumentum ad Hominem falls short, try Argumentum ad Matrem
It's California. I'm sure they'll find an endangered muskrat to halt construction.
That said, I suggest implementing a 50% tax on all construction within one mile of a coast for "climate change insurance" for when their homes are (literally) underwater.
Fascinating article. I've always been against section 8 because I hate giving people something for nothing - it erodes work ethic and isn't fair to those of us who do go to work everyday. However I didn't realize just how sinister the effects if it were. I'd mod you up but alas I already commented in this thread. Even so great article - thank you
Is the local neighbourhood watch required to dress in stormtrooper outfits? :P
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
why would he sell them? he could just rent them at a low rent.
"The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
It's his money, if he wants to offer "standard-quality" housing ( $1M is debatable upper middle class in the Bay Area) to families for affordable rates, what's wrong with that?
YIYBY.
Well played, Lucas.
He's mostly doing it to fuck over his neighbours who he can't browbeat with his massive chequebook.
Note that he wasn't spending $200m on housing elsewhere and then moved it to his neighbourhood. He was building a studio. And when he couldn't, changed it over to housing.
It's good for the poor people. Except you can bet that the police will be harrassing them like nobody's business, because it looks like "a bum criminal in a nice neighbourhood, can't be legit".
And when the money stops flowing? Buildings need upkeep...
But they can't afford $1m houses.
So he's NOT providing anything because those who provide services to the community cannot afford to live in that community.
Unless George gives the houses away or "rent free" (possibly just at "normal cheap housing rates" rather than free, technically if he gets enough to pay for upkeep then the asset still remains and he's not lost a penny).
I didn't see any detail in TFA, but I assume he'll be paying for the roads, utilities and other infrastructure that goes along with a new development. This stuff doesn't build itself and since it's private land, the local council won't be building it.
$892,857.14 per house? Something is not right here.
Depends on whether or not the reported loss will push him under a tax bracket, open up some loopholes, entitle him to credits...
There's a reason that the US Tax Code is a couple dozen thousands of pages long, you know...
And not one of those reasons is to give you more money than you started with.
You know the "Low income" housing is not designed to bring in crack addicts and gang bangers. In a rich neighbourhood, "low incomes" is middle class housing for teachers, nurses and police. The jobs that every community needs whether rich or poor. As someone who has already demonstrated a willingness to donate large sums to charity, this doesn't sound like an unlikely outcome.
Our masters pay most of the taxes because they own most of the good old USA.
Windows Vista training and payphones.
When was that? 1995?
There is always the option that the news outlets have confused final asset value with construction cost.
I.e., the properties will be worth $900k each on average, once built, but the build cost is likely to be a lot lot lower.
This would seem far more reasonable for 2 and 3 bedroom apartments in a low-rise housing block, however high quality the construction is.
And assuming a more reasonable $1000 a month rent, or even $1500 a month, the financials start to make more sense if the building cost is closer to $50m than $200m.
... because these days, Memphis is renowned as a center of governmental excellence, low crime rates, and substantial wealth.
He will build the cheapest habitable structures allowed by law and fill it full of Section 8 tenants. We'll see how his neighbors react to Jay-z thumping donks and clapped out pickup trucks tooling through the neighborhood.
to develop all that for 200m isn't bad considering it prolly isn't just bare bones houses - it is most likely things like parks ad such since it is over a 54 acre space. Realize that if you find a cheap run down 2 bedroom house in the middle of nowhere in the bay area right now you are likely to pay 500k+ median prices are around 1m
"Han shot Jar-Jar first!" - at least it sounds good.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
It's his money, if he wants to offer "standard-quality" housing ( $1M is debatable upper middle class in the Bay Area) to families for affordable rates, what's wrong with that?
Nothing. But lets not pretend he is Jimmy Carter building Habitat for Humanity homes. These are not homes for the poor. The poor could not afford the annual tax payments for these homes. Neither could the working poor, nor lower middle income. Even if sold at a discount to the market, qualifying for loans and affording annual expenses will most likely restrict buyers to the upper regions of "middle income".
Lets also not ignore that he wishes to make an example of those who opposed his earlier development plans.
I didn't see any detail in TFA, but I assume he'll be paying for the roads, utilities and other infrastructure that goes along with a new development. This stuff doesn't build itself and since it's private land, the local council won't be building it.
I would assume all such infrastructure costs are included in that $200M. That the approximately $900K expense per home would include such things, that its not what is being spent on the home itself.
Believe me, sub-million houses in the bay area are low income houses.
That $200M (approx $900K per home) is the cost for the entire development (homes, parks, infrastructure, etc). We don't know what the sale price of the homes will be.
That $900K wouldn't be just for the construction of the home itself. That would also represent the home's share of all the other costs of the development. Parks, roads, utilities infrastructure, etc.
Again, he is providing the housing to people who work in the area and who otherwise would not be able to live in the area - police, teachers, firefighters, nurses, etc.
So what if they "can't afford million dollar houses"? He's fixing it so they CAN afford to live in million dollar houses if they wish. More power to him.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
The poor could not afford the annual tax payments for these homes. Neither could the working poor, nor lower middle income. Even if sold at a discount to the market, qualifying for loans and affording annual expenses will most likely restrict buyers to the upper regions of "middle income".
Don't think anyone said they would be offered for purchase? More likely rental. And even if it was for purchase, in the Bay Area the "working poor" covers a LOT higher range than you'd imagine. A full time high school teacher in Marin is basically "working poor". Imagine how much more effective a teacher would be if he/she didn't have to commute 2 hours a day just to get to school.
Lets also not ignore that he wishes to make an example of those who opposed his earlier development plans.
That was speculation. He denies it. You can be cynical and not believe him, or realize that someone who has already committed half of his multibillion dollar fortune to charity might actually be trying to find a charitable use for his hundreds of acres of land that his douchey rich neighbors won't allow him to use for anything else.
When one has more money than they can spend on themselves and gives away half that is commendable but lets not pretend its evidence of sainthood. He's a my way or nothing sort of guy. Its highly plausible revenge and a lesson to others are considerations. That the new plan benefits society does not contradict this.
Until they break ground I wouldn't be surprised if the locals rezone to land to permit his original studio plan and the housing development gets relocated elsewhere. This is how the 0.01%'ers operate.
Look at history, Rockefeller, Carnegie, etc. They spent huge sums on charitable and philanthropic projects too. Its says nothing as to how they conduct their business and private affairs.
I don't think anyone here is worshipping him, just acknowledging a very generous act.
He's a my way or nothing sort of guy.
Eh, I think by giving up all rights to the Star Wars movies so someone else could continue the story pretty much disproves that theory. I'll give you once doing that he has said he doesn't want to be actively involved in it any more.
Until they break ground I wouldn't be surprised if the locals rezone to land to permit his original studio plan
He's already said he has retired, so he doesn't NEED a new studio any more. To quote: "I'm completely confident that Disney will take good care of the franchise I've built. At the same time, for me, I look at it as I'm investing in Disney, because that's my retirement fund."
There is a history of philanthropists working hard to amass their fortune and then working hard to distribute it - and once they reach the next phase they really focus on it alone. In fact, to quote Andrew Carnegie, his dictum was "To spend the first third of one's life getting all the education one can. To spend the next third making all the money one can. To spend the last third giving it all away for worthwhile causes."
He's a my way or nothing sort of guy.
Eh, I think by giving up all rights to the Star Wars movies so someone else could continue the story pretty much disproves that theory. I'll give you once doing that he has said he doesn't want to be actively involved in it any more.
I think the refusal to sell the original incarnations of episodes 4-6 are a better indicator. As for giving up the rights, he was paid an enormous sum of money. And when someone pays such an enormous sum of money they no longer want your editorial control. So isn't he actually doing as I indicate again? He can't have any control so he wants nothing to do with it.
Until they break ground I wouldn't be surprised if the locals rezone to land to permit his original studio plan
He's already said he has retired, so he doesn't NEED a new studio any more. To quote: "I'm completely confident that Disney will take good care of the franchise I've built. At the same time, for me, I look at it as I'm investing in Disney, because that's my retirement fund."
Except that he is a storyteller and may have other stories that he wishes to tell outside of the star wars universe. And with modern digital distribution channels he has much more freedom, less need of a major studio to partner with. Unless he is physically ill its hard to image him not wanting a studio to tinker in.
There is a history of philanthropists working hard to amass their fortune and then working hard to distribute it - and once they reach the next phase they really focus on it alone.
The storytelling business is quite different than say the "Standard Oil" business or the "Microsoft Windows" business. Like authors I think filmmakers would continue to work until they no longer can. If the filmmaker has sufficient money, as we have in this case, I would expect indie projects if nothing else. He would have absolute freedom as in student filmmaker days but actually have a distribution channels to the public, no need for studios to distribute and theaters to show.
Unless he is physically ill its hard to image him not wanting a studio to tinker in.
Studio? He has Skywalker Ranch, which is already WAY more than he needs to work on "indie" projects if he chooses to (it was enough for his major projects!)
The entire POINT of this article was that he had another property (Grady Ranch) in Marin where he wanted to build a huge digital film production campus, which had been blocked. This facility was obviously NOT to experiment with indie projects, it was to be a major production house used for many Hollywood titles (not just his, but contracted for effects to many movies like ILM and Skywalker Sound, etc). He eventually decided he didn't need it any more, and wanted to turn it into affordable housing instead. Didn't you RTFA? :)
The storytelling business is quite different than say the "Standard Oil" business or the "Microsoft Windows" business
I think this side of the business is a very good analogy to tycoons in other industries - Lucas made a lot of his money not as a "storyteller" but as a pioneer in visual and audio effects. He's backing away from that, and donating most of his fortune now. I hope he does continue to work on misc creative projects - but it sounds like he's getting away from, to paraphrase Carnegie, the "making tons of money" phase into the "donating tons of money" phase.
Unless he is physically ill its hard to image him not wanting a studio to tinker in.
Studio? He has Skywalker Ranch, which is already WAY more than he needs to work on "indie" projects if he chooses to (it was enough for his major projects!)
The entire POINT of this article was that he had another property (Grady Ranch) in Marin where he wanted to build a huge digital film production campus, which had been blocked. This facility was obviously NOT to experiment with indie projects, it was to be a major production house used for many Hollywood titles (not just his, but contracted for effects to many movies like ILM and Skywalker Sound, etc). He eventually decided he didn't need it any more, and wanted to turn it into affordable housing instead. Didn't you RTFA? :)
I'm thinking "indie" more in terms of distribution not production quality. With his resources his "indie" projects could be equivalent to studio production.
"Tinkering" varies greatly with the tinkerer's resources.
I'm thinking "indie" more in terms of distribution not production quality. With his resources his "indie" projects could be equivalent to studio production.
Except that just doesn't make much sense... Lucas has given *no* indication he wants to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on high end productions and then not distribute it widely. People just don't self-distribute movies these days. In fact, the main point of indie festivals like Sundance is for the filmmakers to try to get their films picked up by a distributor.
On the other hand, he *has* indicated he wants to spend hundreds of millions (actually, billions) on philanthropic ventures. I just don't see any reason not to take his own statements at face value until he actually *does* something to show he has ulterior motives.