Irvine Co

The Community Services Commission last week voted to allow the Irvine Co. to build a private park in a controversial project near Turtle Rock. Don Campbell, president of a citizens group opposed to the development, said the ridgeline where the park is planned should be left alone for environmental reasons. The less the Irvine Co. touches it, the better, he told commissioners. The project, proposed off Bonita Canyon Road near Bommer Canyon, includes 2,500-home homes, parks and trails. Irvine Co.

Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren made a rare public appearance Thursday as he came before a respected real estate trade group at the Los Angeles Convention Center to accept an award, reminisce and grouse a bit about an old antagonist. Bren, who became Southern California's wealthiest man in the process of turning the Irvine Ranch in Orange County into a planned community, was feted by the Urban Land Institute, a Washington-based think tank and trade organization. About 7,000 members are attending the international group's fall meeting in Los Angeles, and many of them crowded into a meeting hall to see the elusive billionaire in the flesh.

As a former Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines (from 1985 to 1987) I was struck by the accuracy of John Cavanagh and Robin Broad's critique of economic "development" programs there ("Aim 'People's Power' to the People," Op-Ed Page, Nov. 7). In my experience, major development programs in the Philippines are little more than a way for local politicians and government officials to line their pockets--either by awarding contracts to relatives and cronies or by stealing grant funds outright.

A man accused of stealing a nearly $1.4-million tax refund check from billionaire Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren has pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud. Federal prosecutors say Moundir Kamil, a 41-year-old convicted bank robber, obtained Bren's Social Security number, date of birth and other personal information and opened an account in Bren's name in February 2010 at an East West Bank branch in Cerritos. Bren, a 79-year-old real estate tycoon, is listed as Forbes magazine's 64th richest person in the world and has an estimated net worth of $12 billion.

Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren made a rare public appearance Thursday as he came before a respected real estate trade group at the Los Angeles Convention Center to accept an award, reminisce and grouse a bit about an old antagonist. Bren, who became Southern California's wealthiest man in the process of turning the Irvine Ranch in Orange County into a planned community, was feted by the Urban Land Institute, a Washington-based think tank and trade organization. About 7,000 members are attending the international group's fall meeting in Los Angeles, and many of them crowded into a meeting hall to see the elusive billionaire in the flesh.

Irvine Co., a real estate firm known for its vast Orange County land holdings, announced Monday that it had acquired a skyscraper in Chicago's central business district. The Newport Beach company bought the Hyatt Center, a 48-story, 1.5-million square-foot office building in Chicago's central business district, from property developer and asset manager Pritzker Realty Group. The Hyatt Center, at 71 South Wacker Drive, was developed by Pritzker Realty Group and Higgins Development Partners and opened in 2005.

Irvine Co. said Friday that it plans to buy up to 1 million shares of stock in Irvine Apartment Communities Inc., its 58%-owned affiliate. Irvine Co. said it plans to purchase the shares from time to time in open market or negotiated transactions. Irvine Apartment Communities is a real estate investment trust that controls 55 apartment communities.

The Irvine Co. said Monday that real estate marketing whiz Donald Moe is returning to the giant land developer after a 12-year hiatus. Moe, 55, of Dana Point, will become senior vice president for residential marketing in the Irvine Co.'s residential division. He held a similar post at Santa Margarita Co. until resigning to become a consultant in 1995. Moe first joined the Irvine Co. in 1972 as a marketing director for the then-budding Fashion Island shopping and office complex.

The Irvine Co. said Wednesday that it had completed three large commercial land sales. It sold 8.25 acres at Jamboree Road and Walnut Avenue to Ramen noodles manufacturer Union Inc., which will move from Costa Mesa into a new 167,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at the site. Another 5.3 acres at Alton Parkway and the Laguna Freeway was sold to Western Financial Bank for a new 100,000-square-foot office building that will accommodate an expansion of its Irvine operations.

The slides and wave pools at Irvine's Wild Rivers water park will be permanently closed at the end of summer to make way for an apartment complex. The 26-year-old water park and nearby Camp James, a summer day camp for children, must shut down or relocate when their leases end Oct. 2. The Irvine Co., which owns the land, has plans to build as many as 1,700 apartments on the site, which is adjacent to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater —...

Mutual fund giant Pacific Investment Management Co. is planning to build new digs in Newport Beach. The proposed complex, designed by architect Henry Cobb, will include a conference center and a state-of-the-art trading floor, according to developer Irvine Co., which will oversee the project. The development will be about twice the size of Pimco's current 192,000-square-foot home, which is also in Newport Beach, the developer said. Pimco is headquartered at Pacific Financial Plaza in two contiguous buildings.

Among Donald Bren's fondest childhood memories are the weekends on Lido Isle, a man-made jewel on the Orange County coast. He'd trek down from the Westside with his best friend's family and spend long hours rowing in Newport Harbor. As Bren reminisced nearly seven decades later, he turned to the floor-to-ceiling view from his ninth-floor conference room, taking in Fashion Island, Newport Harbor, Lido Island and the shimmering blue Pacific. "Long story short," he said, smiling, "I didn't go very far. " Today, Bren is the sole shareholder of Irvine Co., one of the most successful real estate firms in U.S. history, owner of the Irvine Ranch and more than 600 premium office buildings, shopping centers, apartment communities and resort properties.

Irvine Co., a real estate firm known for its vast Orange County land holdings, announced Monday that it had acquired a skyscraper in Chicago's central business district. The Newport Beach company bought the Hyatt Center, a 48-story, 1.5-million square-foot office building in Chicago's central business district, from property developer and asset manager Pritzker Realty Group. The Hyatt Center, at 71 South Wacker Drive, was developed by Pritzker Realty Group and Higgins Development Partners and opened in 2005.

Billionaire Donald L. Bren might have lost some privacy, but he won't be losing any more of his fortune. A Los Angeles jury decided Thursday that the Irvine Co. chairman does not owe his two adult children any more money. Christie Bren, 22, and David Bren, 18, were seeking retroactive child support of $400,000 a month each. They contended that out-of-court payments Bren made to their mother were well below what would have been awarded by a family court. The long-awaited trial put the intensely private real estate developer in an awkward position.

Billionaire Donald L. Bren walked into a Los Angeles courtroom Thursday wearing a suit and sneakers. His footwear may have been comfortable, but the occasion certainly wasn't: A lawyer representing two of his children peppered the intensely private Irvine Co. chairman with questions about his wealth and personal life. Bren's own attorneys made the case that he's been a somewhat absentee father in raising the two now-adult children: no parent-teacher meetings, no school events, no sleepovers at his house, not even a hospital visit when they were born.

Billionaire land developer Donald L. Bren has a reputation as a major political donor and a generous philanthropist. But two of his children from a former girlfriend are alleging the Irvine Co. chairman was stingy with their child support. Their years-long legal battle is expected to go to trial this week. Bren's children, Christie, 22, and David, 18, are seeking retroactive child support in the amount of $400,000 a month each. The potentially massive payments are deserved, their attorney says, given the $3 million to $5 million per month they contend Bren was spending during years he would have been paying formal child support.

A rugged, 20,000-acre parcel of the original Irvine Ranch — a pristine landscape of steep canyons, native grassland and sycamore woodland that is home to golden eagles, mountain lions and dozens of rare and endangered species of plants and animals — became public property Tuesday in a historic deal with the developer who has sculpted the look of modern suburbia in Southern California. The open-space land, a gift from Donald Bren and the Irvine Co., was unanimously accepted by the Orange County Board of Supervisors, which also approved a long-term plan to manage the natural habitat, designated a National Natural Landmark four years ago. In one swoop, the size of parkland owned by the county grew by more than half.