Irvine Company Building 9,000 Units Across California

Irvine Company is ramping up apartment construction while much of the U.S. multifamily sector is tapping the brakes.

The Newport Beach-based developer, led by billionaire Donald Bren, has 3,000 units under construction in Orange County and another 9,000 in planning phases in Orange, San Diego and Santa Clara Counties, The Mercury News reported.

Irvine Company’s push comes as apartment construction statewide has fallen about 25 percent over the past two years, dragged down by high interest rates, flat rents and oversupply in certain markets. The tough market conditions don’t seem to be an obstacle for 93-year-old Bren, who famously restarted homebuilding in 2009 as developers were still picking up the pieces post-housing crash and has made a name as a pioneer in master-planned communities.

“Fulfilling the vision of master planning has been a lifetime dedication and lifetime passion,” Bren said in a statement to the Southern California News Group, which publishes the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News and nine other newspapers in the region, and counts the Mercury News as a sister publication.

“I am hopeful the heritage of our stewardship will live on in many new ways,” Bren said.

Part of Irvine Company’s efforts include converting offices, malls and industries sites into residential communities.

In Orange County, the firm has 1,481 apartments in the pipeline on two parcels near Irvine Spectrum shopping center previously set aside for offices. A 313-unit expansion of an existing complex next to Great Park is close to completion. Another 1,858 units are planned for a different Spectrum site previously slated for commercial use. An additional 2,500 apartments are in the works near UC Irvine, and another 1,336 units will be built on land the company owns in Tustin. Plus, retail space at The Market Place shopping center in Irvine is being converted into 1,261 apartments, now pre-leasing. Further south in San Diego, 552 apartments are being proposed for an existing office campus near the University Town Center.

One person Bren won’t be able to count on to continue his legacy is his own son, 33-year-old David Bren. Earlier this month, as scrutiny grew on the young son over an alleged real estate scam, a spokesperson for the elder Bren and Irvine Company shared a statement distancing themselves from his son, saying they “do not have a personal or business relationship with this individual.”

— Chris Malone Méndez