George Lucas Building Low-Income Housing Next Door To Millionaires

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George Lucas Building Low-Income Housing Next Door To Millionaires

Posted by samzenpus on Monday April 20, 2015 @05:13AM from the rich-and-poor dept.

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.

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Well done! by Frivas · 2015-04-20 05:17 · Score: 5, Insightful

Well done George! if you have the money, and you can help other people, specially poor people, just do it!

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-- Francisco Rivas C.
1. Re:Well done! by Anonymous Coward · 2015-04-20 05:26 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  very little his fellow Bay Area residents can do about it
  It is also a massive FU to that group. He spent 20+ YEARS trying to make that same land a movie studio. They stonewalled him on every turn because they didnt 'want the noise'.
  He can also turn it into straight income. At 224 units at a *very* low rate of 500 a month that is 1.4 million a year. Not a bad ROI. I am sure he can charge much more for it. Or when he grows bored of it sell it off.
  This is him spending some of that starwars money to piss off the people who got in the middle of his real dream of making a movie studio on his land.
2. Re:Well done! by SydShamino · 2015-04-20 05:30 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Poorer people have to live everywhere, because the jobs they fill are everywhere.
  
  --
  It doesn't hurt to be nice.
3. Re:Well done! by CastrTroy · 2015-04-20 05:30 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  It's not really just about annoying the neighbours. If you stick all the poor people in the same neighbourhood, then all the poor kids will go to schools with poor kids, and all the rich kids will go to school with rich kids. Since schools are funded by property taxes, the poor kid schools always end up having less money. If you mix poor and rich kids in the same areas, and they attend the same schools, and benefit from the same property taxes, then things end up much more even. Instead of one school having everything, and another having nothing, you'd have all the schools with similar amounts of resources.
  
  --
  
  Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
4. Re:Well done! by jellomizer · 2015-04-20 05:38 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  <sarcasticly>But what about all those wealthy people, having low income houses will lower their property values and they will be less rich!</sarcasticly>
  Part of the problem that we have is the physical separation of the Rich and Poor.
  Poor people can learn a lot from rich people. As well rich people can learn some sympathy with the poor people and realize how much of their success was actually given to them, or by blind luck.
  
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  If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
5. Re:Well done! by Anonymous Coward · 2015-04-20 05:44 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  > At 224 units at a *very* low rate of 500 a month that is 1.4 million a year. Not a bad ROI.
  You're right. It's not bad... It's HORRIBLE. He's putting 200$ million into it.
6. Re:Well done! by NotDrWho · 2015-04-20 05:45 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  That's a nice idea, but the reality is usually that the rich people just move away when the poor people come in (especially the ones with families). No way are rich daddy and trophy wife letting their little girl go to school with that rabble!
  
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7. Re:Well done! by morgauxo · 2015-04-20 05:46 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Meh... everywhere I have seen low income apartments built they start out nice but vandalism, crime and tennants who just generally are very rough on things have brought the places down in quality very quickly.
  Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are some very deserving good people who need that housing. It just only takes a few bad apples... Unfortunately I don't think you can really help people very well that way.
  On the other hand.. Nice! If they thought they didn't want a studio in their neighborhood let's see how they deal with this! If only there was a George Lucas for every HOA!
8. Re:Well done! by OhPlz · 2015-04-20 05:56 · Score: 3
  
  The rich kids go to private school.
9. Re:Well done! by toadlife · 2015-04-20 06:00 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  In CA, the disparity in property taxes is not why some public schools have more money than other public schools. While there are some problems with how it is implemented, in CA, school funding is mandated to be equal, regardless of the local property tax revenues.
  The inequity comes in when you factor in private fundraising.
  
  --
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10. Re:Well done! by sycodon · 2015-04-20 06:06 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  The real irony is that his neighbors would probably be the first ones to support a tax and confiscating someone's land for low income housing ...as long as it wasn't their land or built close to them.
  
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11. Re:Well done! by Dorianny · 2015-04-20 06:14 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  That's a nice idea, but the reality is usually that the rich people just move away when the poor people come in (especially the ones with families). No way are rich daddy and trophy wife letting their little girl go to school with that rabble!
  They do not move away instead they have the Politicians and Police departments enact laws and policies that turn the Poor areas into virtual prison colonies. This is what happens in NYC with policies like "Stop and Frisk" which lets cops effectivly harrass poor people that step outside of their zones and "Broken Windows" which allows them to haoul them in for minor infractions. For schooling the solution is of course private schools and voucher programs.
12. Re:Well done! by Anonymous Coward · 2015-04-20 06:21 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  George Lucas. He could use it for low-income housing.
13. Re:Well done! by Tokolosh · 2015-04-20 06:24 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  You understand that there is essentially no correlation between school spending and student achievement?
  https://www.americanprogress.o... or try some googling.
  The inflation-adjusted cost of schooling has tripled since 1970, with no discernible improvement in education outcome.
  
  --
  Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
14. Re:Well done! by Anonymous Coward · 2015-04-20 06:25 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Pretty sure that's what happened at Columbine.
  Nope, that had nothing to do with Columbine. That entire high school zone is pretty much middle/upper-middle class, and neither Harris nor Klebold were from particularly poor families. What they were is high IQ kids (with less than average common sense) in a school system (Jeffco) not known for dealing well with gifted/talented students, the prevailing attitude being "we'll help out the less-capable kids, the smart ones can deal on their own". (There was also a significant pro-jock, anti-nerd bias.)
  I lived in and had a kid going to school (not high school) in the area when Columbine happened. There's a fair bit that never made it to the national media, because it upset various applecarts or was "too complicated" for the nightly news.
15. Re:Well done! by Mr+D+from+63 · 2015-04-20 06:30 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  But spending more is easy. Addressing the root cause is hard, particularly in a accountability averse culture.
16. Re:Well done! by Moridineas · 2015-04-20 06:33 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  You're right about what happens, of course, but vastly over simplifying.
  I live in Raleigh, NC. My wife and I have two kids, one of whom will be starting kindergarten next year.
  The public school we were zoned for is ~75% African American and Hispanic. I'm ok with this, I grew up in the area and went to a "majority minority" school (though there were not many Hispanics in the area back then) as well. This school also has over 50% of the students who score lowly on the English proficiency charts. 60% of the students are on free lunch. The end of grade test scores are...abysmal. When visiting the school, the teachers were just overwhelmed with having to deal with so many non-English and other remedial students.
  I want my kids to be happy at school and get something positive out of it. I just could not see sending my kids to that school. This was a very hard decision, but we moved from our 150k house to a 250k house 8 miles north. The new school is still very diverse--about 35% African American and Hispanic, but has much better test scores, an actual PTA with engaged parents, etc.
  It's easy to criticize those 1%%er fat cats and their slutty wives, but really, everybody wants the best for their kid. You can't blame parents for doing whatever they can--moving, paying an arm and a leg for private school, etc--to help their children out. It's really just human nature.
17. Re:Well done! by Immerman · 2015-04-20 06:34 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  I believe the typical rule of thumb when buying/building a house (bubble aside) is that it's worth ten years rent - more than that and your money is better spent elsewhere. At 1.4 million/year this thing won't be able to pay for itself in a century. So lets just be happy that some rich guy is throwing his money away in a way that benefits the little guys, even if he is doing it for all the wrong reasons.
  I've got to wonder though - how exactly do you go about spending almost $1M/unit to build affordable housing?
  
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  --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
18. Re:Well done! by kamapuaa · 2015-04-20 07:15 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  In California, schools get equal public funding, it's not derived from local property taxes. On the other hand, rich school districts can expect to earn more in private fundraising, and can more realistically require students to pay for "outside resources" like money for field trips, a computer, etc...
  97% of the difference between good schools and bad schools is family background (education, income levels, parent availability). If the student bodies of a poor school and a rich school exchanged campuses/teachers, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the educational results of the students would remain basically unchanged.
  
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19. Re:Well done! by lgw · 2015-04-20 07:19 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  The rule of thumb is lower - 100 months rent maximum (and lower in times of high interest rates). Anything above that is land price speculation, not investment. Rental stuff gets built in Cali precisely as speculation on rising house prices, not as a sound rental investment.
  That 100-month rule is based on cost of money, property taxes, maintenance, property management, etc. You're doing well to keep your long-term-average ongoing costs down around 1% a month. At 100 months you can expect to break even for some years, so if you think conditions will improve it's a way to "get in early" without losing money every month to do so. In sensible markets you can usually do better, however.
  Lucas is just using his "fuck you money" as such, not to make a profit here.
  
  --
  Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
20. Re:Well done! by unimacs · 2015-04-20 07:34 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  There's a definite correlation between money and academic achievement. You're looking in the wrong place. Kids in more affluent areas do better in school.
  
  In the study you linked it's pretty clear that school districts with higher levels of poverty have a lower return on investment. In other words, they spend more per kid but get poorer results. However, it is not an apples to apples comparison. Neither is comparing 1970 to today. The early 1970's represented an historic low in the number of people in poverty.
  
  You have to look at what the schools are spending money on now vs 1970 and what poor districts spend money on vs affluent ones. In my school back in the 1970s there were no ESL students (English as a 2nd language). There was very little attempt to mainstream kids with significant disabilities. There weren't the onerous testing requirements created by "No Child Left Behind" and other well intentioned but flawed ideas. There weren't the outlandish health care costs that are crippling many of our public institutions. There weren't nearly as many kids getting "free and reduced price lunch" if there were any at all.
  
  That's not to say that all money given to school districts is spent wisely and that giving them more money will automatically lead to better results.
21. Re:Well done! by shutdown+-p+now · 2015-04-20 07:55 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  They are a pleasant family, don't complain about stuff people do on their own property, are good to have a beer with, and the father shares a hobby with me even if I don't care for Fords. They are here legally and the father and mother goes to work, and their kids don't throw wild parties that result in my mailbox being run over with a mess of trash in my yard.
  Suppose that everything was true, except that they were there illegally (because there is no way for them to immigrate legally, which is the case for most Mexicans). Would your opinion of them change?
22. Re:Well done! by I4ko · 2015-04-20 08:34 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Yes, as a legal H1 Expat from EU who came here on request of my company, and having heavily invested my in education, and basically spending and paying more in taxes than my American neighbors, and having to through thousands of hoops to get a green card and be able to live like a normal person I fully object against (especially low qualified) illegals given a parole. I'm sorry, but I can live in uncertainty, refrain from establishing long term relationships and such, because I may have to pack up and leave, but these guys can come and stay disregarding all the laws of this country? I think I can't agree with that. Same goes to most of the legal H1 Indians who after spending 30 minutes with them leave me completely confused on how they can possible have all the qualification that they claim. So, even I as being a legal foreigner, am for a much tighter control on the border. No one should be allowed to illegally pass the border and get away with it, and leave in complete disregard with the law and the "native" inhabitants of the land. At least they can learn English. And I'm sorry - but if you can't afford to raise a child, simple don't make it. It's not like they happen on their own.
23. Re:Well done! by kamapuaa · 2015-04-20 10:50 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Oh come on, there were about 500 scapegoats for Columbine, and a "pro-jock, anti-nerd bias" was definitely one of them. Simplifying it to that is just more of the same old shit.
  
  --
  Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
1 million dollars per family? by ffoiii · 2015-04-20 05:18 · Score: 3, Insightful

$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.
1. Re:1 million dollars per family? by MachineShedFred · 2015-04-20 05:20 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  It is the Bay Area, so $892,000 per house isn't too far off...
  
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2. Re:1 million dollars per family? by GameboyRMH · 2015-04-20 06:07 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Every house is a fancy underground complex, and each above-ground entrance will look like a trailer, and each one will come with a muscle car body on blocks and a patchy lawn with tacky lawn ornaments on it and an assortment of kids' toys strewn about. Also there will be a hair salon that gives free mullet cuts to residents XD
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
$200M for 224 homes? by hawguy · 2015-04-20 05:19 · Score: 3, Insightful

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.
1. Re:$200M for 224 homes? by KeithJM · 2015-04-20 05:30 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  There is a decent chance the cost of the land is included, since he's providing it to this project as well. If you're putting together a press release proclaiming your good work (and I don't mean that as a criticism -- he definitely deserves the right to take credit for his work) you might as well make the numbers as complete as you can.
Re:Should be rezoned agricultural by gstoddart · 2015-04-20 05:20 · Score: 5, Funny

Bah, just screen every scene involving Jar Jar Binks on a continuous loop on a 50' tall screen.
That'll really piss them off.

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Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Define "affordable" by pushing-robot · 2015-04-20 05:21 · Score: 4, Insightful

$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.

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How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
1. Re:Define "affordable" by Lumpy · 2015-04-20 05:30 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  In the Bay area anyone making under $350,000 is considered low income.
  It's so bad they have bread lines at Panera Bread stores.
  
  --
  Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
2. Re:Define "affordable" by steelfood · 2015-04-20 05:40 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  1) Nobody says the tenants are buying the homes.
  2) Nobody says Lucas is trying to recoup the costs of construction.
  3) The total cost per unit is probably much higher if you factor in the value of the land.
  FYI, low income housing is usually rentals. Many low income people have trouble saving for a down payment, much less get a loan from a bank, no matter how small the amount borrowed is.
  The main problem with cheap rentals is the building's maintenance costs. Government subsidies are used to help with that usually. If Lucas isn't willing to bleed in the long term, at best, he's going to have to price the rentals for middle income, working class people. Which may still constitute "low income" in that part of California.
  
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pretty funny by argStyopa · 2015-04-20 05:23 · Score: 5, Insightful

As "fuck you"s go, that's about as morally commendable as it gets.

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-Styopa
Missing one detail ... by techstar25 · 2015-04-20 05:23 · Score: 5, Insightful

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?"
Don't divide 200m by 224 by Cederic · 2015-04-20 05:27 · Score: 5, Funny

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.
Utilities by wikthemighty · 2015-04-20 05:29 · Score: 3, Insightful

That cost probably includes adding water/electrical/phone/sewer/roads/etc. which all cost quite a bit.

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Sounds like upper middle class housing development by drnb · 2015-04-20 05:34 · Score: 5, Insightful

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.
Re:Wow by Anonymous Coward · 2015-04-20 05:40 · Score: 5, Insightful

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.
Re:Not a revenge plot by gstoddart · 2015-04-20 05:40 · Score: 5, Funny

Lucas claims this is not a revenge plot.
Look, we know it can't be a plot.
Lucas has demonstrated with the prequels that he doesn't understand 'plot'. ;-)

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Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Translation by tomhath · 2015-04-20 05:40 · Score: 4, Insightful

"What can I do that would suck more than a studio and that you can't block?"
Assuming.... by Roskolnikov · 2015-04-20 05:45 · Score: 4, Insightful

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.

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Unix, an obscure operating system developed by bored researchers in an attempt to get a better game playing experience.
Old Folks Homes by LeonPierre · 2015-04-20 05:52 · Score: 4, Informative

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

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"If it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet"
1. Re:Old Folks Homes by linearZ · 2015-04-20 06:50 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I'm sure the first building he builds will be pretty good, with hype to boot.
  The second building will be the best one he ever builds.
  The third building will have Ewoks.
  I'd really hate to be the poor baster that ends up in a building after the third.
  
  --
  Revolution is the opium of the intellectuals.
Re:Sounds like upper middle class housing developm by Gavagai80 · 2015-04-20 05:54 · Score: 4, Informative

In Marin, the rest of the world's upper middle class is low income.

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Re: Wow by g0bshiTe · 2015-04-20 06:09 · Score: 3, Insightful

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.

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Re:$892,000 houses for the poors by JustNiz · 2015-04-20 06:13 · Score: 3, Insightful

In that are, 892k IS low-income.
Re: Should be rezoned agricultural by cfalcon · 2015-04-20 06:31 · Score: 5, Interesting

He didn't do it for the wrong reasons. For YEARS he tried to put a studio there, but they wouldn't budge, and insisted on the residential tag on his land. Finally, he said, ok, fine.
So he could have capitulated- which would frankly be ludicrous- or find a way to actually be smart with it, which is what he did.
This, by the way, is like the third coolest thing he's done, with Star Wars at 2 and 2+ billion to charity at 1.
Re: Wow by hack++slash · 2015-04-20 06:46 · Score: 5, Funny

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?

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To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
Re: Wow by Paradise+Pete · 2015-04-20 07:06 · Score: 4, Insightful

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.
Some insider insight by mr.dreadful · 2015-04-20 11:05 · Score: 4, Informative
Background: worked at both Skywalker and Big Rock Ranches for over 15 years. There's a lot of misguided or snarky comments here and George deserves an advocate in this case:
- GWL is not trying to make money on real estate. If he was, he would't be fooling around with apartment complexes, he'd be buying up more land in Marin because that property has been growing by leaps and bounds since 1990.
- GWL has already donated a significant amount of the land he has bought in Marin to a group called MALT (Marin Agricultural Land Trust). It ensures that the land will remain farmland. *Significant* amounts of land.
- GWL has always been committed to social justice issues. He doesn't make a big deal out of it. In fact, GWL is pretty low profile about a lot of the generous things he's done.
- GWL has excellent taste in design and architecture. He's also put his money where his mouth is and built green buildings because it was the right thing to do, despite the cost. Both Big Rock Ranch and Letterman Digital were LEED Certified and they didn't really need to be. Big Rock and Skywalker are both models of how a complex can be integrated and fit into their natural surroundings. Both campuses are almost invisible from the road and even on campus, everything is well integrated into the environment. We should all be so lucky as to have GWL for a neighbor.
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.