Independent Film Studio Looks To Land At Banning's Airport

BANNING, CA — Rubin Islas has more than just plans to breathe new life into the somewhat insular art scene of Banning. He hopes to develop property around the Banning Municipal Airport into a movie studio that will produce Latinx stories and bring thousands of jobs to the area.

Islas, an affordable housing developer from San Diego, presented his plan to bring Grandave Studios to Banning at a city council meeting on Feb. 23. The Grandave team mapped out the $200 million proposal to build an expansive movie studio while maintaining the functionality of the airport, which has faced the possibility of closure.

"We have a very aggressive plan and we're looking at [a] groundbreaking in January of next year," Islas said.

The proposed studio would raise 16 sound stages, an expansive water tank for filming underwater scenes and brownstone facilities.

"We're excited with the opportunity to put Banning on the map with a very unique project," said Adam Rush, the city's community development director. "I don't say that lightly; I've been doing this for 20 years and I've never worked on a project like this ever, so it's exciting."

The plan immediately drew a hodgepodge of both excitement and skepticism from public commentators and city officials alike.

Stakeholders behind Grandave Studios said they intend to see this project through to the end, and they've promised to bring some 8,000 jobs to the city.

The Banning Airport has had a tumultuous history in the city, as Rush put it. Many developers have taken an interest in the property's potential over the years, but none of those plans, some of them gradiose, ever came to fruition, community members and city officials shared.

But Islas said he's already secured the funding and is in the process of garnering all the necessary municipal approvals, including clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration.

"I've got the money," Islas said. "So let's get things approved."

But for Islas, the project means more to him than an opportunity to develop another property.

Islas has always held a special place in his heart for Banning. It's where his married-in uncle, Carlos Flores, was from. His aunt fell in love with a man from Banning, he explained during the meeting. That man was Flores, who graduated from Banning High School.

"He took me under his wing," Islas said, explaining that his uncle taught him all about the affordable housing business over a span of many years. In 1997, while Islas was working as a freelance writer in New York, he flew back to California to see Flores, who told him he was terminally ill with pancreatic cancer.

Flores passed his affordable housing business to Islas before he died in 1998, which eventually became Grandave Capitol, headquartered in San Diego.

"My dream was always to make movies, but I got sidelined by the affordable housing stuff," Islas said.

When Islas finally decided it was time to pursue that dream and build a movie studio of his own, his mother said, "I really want you to look at Banning."

"And I got goosebumps," Islas remembered. "I just know that that's my uncle Carlos ... it's a very special place to be living his legacy. His dream was to come back to Banning and redevelop it."

Islas and his team assured that his project would keep the airport open, continue the nonprofit Banning Street Drags racing events held on the property, and will not interfere with a skydiving business operating at the airport.

The team also outlined a plan to offer an opportunity training for public safety agencies and an emergency vehicle operations course for first responders.

Business owners and residents attended the Feb. 23 meeting to voice their concerns and interest in the ambitious plan, one of a scale that Banning has never seen, some insisted.

This is in part due to a resistance to change within the city over the last several decades, some community members said. It's also due to skepticism that such a large project could be executed successfully without indefinitely jamming the community's already impacted highway system.

"We've got one artery — I-10," said Chuck Hokenson, who's lived in Banning for five years. "One artery in and out down the hill back up here ... . Where are we going to put the cars?"

Hokenson was not alone in this concern, but Fernado Huerta, the company's Senior Project Manager, assured that there would be a plan to address traffic.

Juanita Diaz, who stepped up to the microphone after Hokenson, said she's lived in Banning for 42 years and expressed her excitement for the project.

"We've always had traffic, we work with it," Diaz said. "We want you to come. We've waited too long. Our city obviously is behind and we need change.

"We can't keep living in the ice ages," Diaz continued, drawing laughter from the chamber. "And so we're here to help. Whatever it is get the word out however it is you need it. I'm tired of this. I'm tired of the waiting, no change. I've raised all my kids here. Now the grandkids are here — and there's still nothing."