The filmmaker George Lucas — who struggled to get permission from officials in San Francisco to build a private museum dedicated to his collection of illustrations, comic art, graphic art, animation and other popular art forms — will instead build the museum in Chicago, where he lives part time, said a spokeswoman for Mayor Rahm Emanuel in Chicago on Tuesday.

The spokeswoman, Kelley Quinn, said she had no details about Mr. Lucas’s plans.

In February, the Presidio Trust in San Francisco rejected a $700 million proposal by Mr. Lucas, the creator of the “Star Wars” movies, to build and endow the museum on prized bayside parkland in the Presidio. It urged him to consider putting his Lucas Cultural Arts Museum on a less prime spot inside the park, just west of his former film studio.

In a statement given to The Chicago Tribune, Mr. Lucas said the museum would be built on land between the Soldier Field football stadium and McCormick Place and would open in 2018.

“Choosing Chicago is the right decision for the museum,” Mr. Lucas added, “but a difficult decision for me personally because of my strong personal and professional roots in the Bay Area.”