Lucas Museum Faces $1.9 Million Contractor Suit Over $30 State Lease

Weeks before the $1 billion Lucas Museum of Narrative Art opens in Los Angeles, an electrical contractor seeking $1.9 million in allegedly unpaid bills is challenging how the project was classified under California law.

J.E. Snyder Electric argues the museum’s 99-year lease of state-owned land for $30 a year made the development a public works project, triggering payment protections and other requirements for contractors. The museum says the project was privately financed by George Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson, and does not qualify as public works.

The lawsuit adds to a series of payment disputes tied to construction of the long-delayed museum, which is scheduled to open Sept. 22 in Exposition Park.

Snyder Electric, a second-tier subcontractor hired through Siemens Industry Inc., alleges it is owed about $1.9 million for electrical work. Its lawsuit names the museum, prime contractor Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Co., and Siemens.

The contractor claims the project was improperly treated as a private nonprofit development, allowing those involved to avoid requirements that can apply to public works projects, including registration with the California Department of Industrial Relations and payment-bond protections.

Its argument centers on the unusually low rent charged for the state property.

California law can treat certain transfers of public assets for less than fair market value as a form of public financial support when determining whether a project was paid for in whole or in part with public funds. Snyder Electric attorney Christopher Hook argues the $30 annual lease falls within that framework.

If the project qualifies as public works, the classification could affect the protections available to contractors seeking payment.

Snyder Electric alleges the museum should have secured a payment bond, which can provide contractors and subcontractors with another source of recovery when money owed for work remains unpaid. The lawsuit also claims the project should have been registered with the state.

Museum attorney Orin Snyder rejects the contractor’s interpretation of the lease and says the $30 rent is only one part of a much broader agreement between the museum and the state.

“The Lucas Museum is one of the largest private cultural gifts in American history,” Snyder said, noting that Lucas and Hobson privately financed the project at a cost exceeding $1 billion.

He has characterized the lawsuit as a payment dispute involving a subcontractor that had no direct contract with the museum.

The museum points to several financial and public-benefit obligations included in the land deal. It paid the state $490,000 annually while some surface parking was unavailable during construction and as much as $2.1 million a year during periods when parking was fully inaccessible.

The project also funded improvements to a nearby soccer field, created more than 1,375 parking spaces for the state, and renovated facilities at Jesse Brewer Park. Under the lease, the museum agreed to build and privately maintain 11 acres of public park space, which the state can use several times each year.

Those provisions are part of the dispute over how the lease should be valued and whether the arrangement amounted to the type of public support covered by California’s public works laws.

Snyder Electric co-founder John Snyder has said Siemens repeatedly promised payment while the balance remained outstanding. He said his company borrowed money as it waited to be paid.

Other contractors have also brought payment claims arising from work on the museum. Hathaway Dinwiddie has separately accused the Lucas Museum of breach of contract over more than $35,000, it says, remains unpaid, while other suits seek hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Siemens and Hathaway Dinwiddie have declined to comment on the pending litigation.

The legal disputes arrive after years of delays in completing the museum. Construction began in 2018, with an opening initially planned for 2021. Pandemic disruptions and later postponements pushed the debut through several projected dates before the museum settled on September 2026.

Snyder Electric alleges the balance at issue in its lawsuit accumulated during the extended construction period.

Lucas and Hobson chose Los Angeles after an earlier plan to build the museum along Chicago’s lakefront became stalled in litigation. The Los Angeles project ultimately secured its Exposition Park location through the long-term state lease now at the center of Snyder Electric’s case.

The museum has begun hosting preview events and is scheduled to open to the public Sept. 22.