Bren

Irvine Apartment Communities Inc. said Wednesday that its board has hired Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. to evaluate a $540-million offer from its chairman, billionaire developer Donald Bren, to take the company private. Bren, through his closely held Irvine Co., offered $32.50 a share for 83% of IAC's common shares earlier this month. At the time, the offer represented a 19% premium. IAC, a real estate investment trust based in Newport Beach, has since risen 16%. It closed Wednesday at $31.

The Bren Events Center--the second largest indoor arena in Orange County--will open next Thursday in Irvine, with ceremonies beginning at 6:15 p.m. The center's inaugural sports event, a basketball game between the UC Irvine Anteaters and Utah State University, will begin at 7:35 p.m. The center, named for Donald L. Bren, chairman of the Irvine Co., is the new combination gymnasium and auditorium for UCI.

Major cultural presentations, including pop music headliners, comedy stars and dance troupes, are being sought for the $15-million, 6,000-seat Donald Bren Events Center that opens today at UC Irvine. However, except for an appearance by political satirist Mark Russell scheduled for April 30, the only events now booked for the new campus gymnasium-auditorium are UC Irvine basketball games (the first in the series is tonight against Utah State).

No sooner had Orange County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley received the prestigious Semper Fidelis Award from the Marine Corps Command and Staff College Foundation than he humbly gave credit to his staff. "At one time I thought nobody could compare with the Marines," the retired Marine brigadier general told a 400-strong crowd at Le Meridien Hotel in Newport Beach on Saturday night. "But the county staff can. Take a bow."

Christian recording artists de Talk will be in concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Bren Events Center. The group's newest release, Jesus Freak, has sold more than 500,000 copies and was nominated as one of Billboard's Top 10 favorite videos of 1995. Tickets are $23 and $19. There is a $2 discount for groups of 15 or more. The center is on the UC Irvine campus. (714) 824-5000. The Newport Harbor Lutheran Church will celebrate Shrove Tuesday with a traditional pancake supper from 6 to 7 p.m.

Bob Brenly was angry Monday night in Miami, and not only because Arizona lost for the eighth time in 10 games. The Diamondback manager was incensed that after Florida's Ugueth Urbina walked pinch-hitter Carlos Baerga with the bases loaded in the eighth inning and ran off the mound, the reliever got an inning-ending called strikeout from umpire Mike DiMuro on Danny Bautista. The Marlins held on for a 3-2 victory.

What's in a name? Everything if you're Wolfgang Puck and Carolyn Mahboubi. The names of the chef who whipped up Spago and the exotic Persian whose family owns the prized Rodeo Collection in Beverly Hills are on every self-respecting cognoscente's tongue. But it was an even bigger name that got Puck and Mahboubi to showcase their wares at the black-tie opening of the Corte Bella condo development in Irvine on Wednesday night: Donald Bren.

Orange County's largest home builder, California Pacific Homes, plans an unspecified number of layoffs and is replacing its longtime president. The Newport Beach company, owned by real estate tycoon Donald Bren, is putting Bren's son, Cary, in the top position.

Steve Bren of Newport Beach won the Bosch-Volkswagen Super Vee race at Laguna Seca Raceway Sunday in a victory that boosted him into the series lead. Bren, who led two other times, took the lead for the final time one lap from the end of the 33-lap event on Laguna Seca's 1.9-mile road course and defeated Didier Theys of Belgium by 1.193 seconds. It was Theys who Bren passed for the point lead. Cary Bren, Steve's brother, was third, followed by Mike Groff and Dennis Vitolo.

Real estate magnate Donald L. Bren became one of the leading donors in University of California history with the announcement Wednesday of a $15-million gift to operate a new graduate school of environmental science and management at UC Santa Barbara. UC officials said the gift from the 65-year-old owner of the Irvine Co. was the largest to date for the Santa Barbara campus. Bren lives in Newport Beach.