For 25 years, George Lucas tried to develop a portion of his 6,100-acre property in the posh hills of Marin into an expansion site for his movie production company. But his neighbors, fearing traffic and disruption to their neighborhood, blocked the plan.

Now, in a move worthy of a Star Wars saga, the famous filmmaker struck back with an audacious plan:

... after spending years and millions of dollars, Mr. Lucas abruptly canceled plans recently for the third, and most likely last, major expansion, citing community opposition. An emotional statement posted online said Lucasfilm would build instead in a place “that sees us as a creative asset, not as an evil empire.”

If the announcement took Marin by surprise, it was nothing compared with what came next. Mr. Lucas said he would sell the land to a developer to bring “low income housing” here.

Norimitsu Onishi of The New York Times reports: Link  (Photo: Wikipedia)