English Bulldog Puppies for Sale in Irvine, CA

California real estate giant Irvine Co. is in the midst of a building push in one hotspot for future development statewide: apartments in less-than-traditional spaces.

The Newport Beach-based company, which owns 125 complexes with 65,000 apartments across California, has 3,000 units under construction at three sites in Orange County. There are another 9,000 units in various stages of planning in Orange, San Diego and Santa Clara counties. Irvine Co. would rank 12th among the nation’s top U.S. apartment owners if it participated in the National Multifamily Housing Council scorecards.

Irvine Co.’s construction activity contrasts with a national cooldown in apartment development.

High financing costs, a wobbly economy, flat rents and overbuilding in certain markets nudged many other developers to cancel or delay rental projects. In California, apartment construction – as measured by multifamily permits – is down 25% over the past two years to a pace not seen since 2013-14.

But Irvine Co. owner Donald Bren, the nation’s wealthiest real estate investor, frequently uses unconventional thinking. For example, he restarted home construction in 2009 – well before others had the nerve to build after the real estate market collapsed into the Great Recession.

The 93-year-old’s confidence in making against-the-grain bets stems from a long-term focus as both a developer and owner. Irvine Co. has created a diverse California-centric portfolio of residential, retail, entertainment, recreation and business properties.

Bren is a pioneer in what the industry calls master planned communities, where entire neighborhoods have long-range blueprints for development. Treating real estate as a multidecade investment helps to make real-time economic gyrations seem like a modest detail in the creation of new properties.

“Fulfilling the vision of master planning has been a lifetime dedication and lifetime passion,” Bren said in a statement provided to the Southern California News Group. “I am hopeful the heritage of our stewardship will live on in many new ways.”

With vacant land tricky to find, Irvine Co., like other developers, is busy swapping spaces for offices, warehouses or shopping centers into residential development.

But in 2025, few builders are executing a rental expansion at the Irvine Co.’s pace. Last year’s NMHC developer rankings showed only 13 U.S. companies building more than 3,000 apartments, which is what Irvine Co. is currently constructing.

In Orange County, Irvine Co. has 1,481 apartments under construction on two parcels previously slated for office space near the Irvine Spectrum shopping center. There’s a 313-unit expansion of an existing complex next to the Great Park nearing completion. Plus, 1,858 units are planned for another Spectrum site previously designated for commercial use.

Also, 2,500 apartments are in the works within UC Irvine’s office-oriented Research Park. Roughly 900 units are planned for the mixed-use Newport Center area. Additionally, 1,336 rentals will be built on a rare land purchase by Irvine Co. in Tustin.

Then there’s excess retail space being utilized, too, with 1,261 apartments now pre-leasing at The Market Place shopping center in Irvine.

In the Bay Area, the company recently won approval for 1,792 apartments in the Santa Clara Park project, which would replace offices just a short walk from its Santa Clara Square mixed-use complex.

And in San Diego, 552 apartments are being designed to fit within an existing office campus near the University Town Center.

Period of rethinking

The Irvine Co.’s canvas has changed.

The developer is known for transforming its massive Irvine Ranch land over the past half-century into much of the city of Irvine, regarded as one of the nation’s top places to live.

However, those raw acres are now largely developed. Irvine Co., like many California real estate firms, must get creative in a state that lacks easily developable land in its population centers.

Economic change also compels extra rethinking. Remote work’s popularity casts a shadow on the future of office properties. Online shopping dings the profitability of retail locations. All these challenges intersect with California’s push for more housing.

Irvine Co. adapted by altering its apartment game. Look at The Market Place, a 130-store shopping center just off the 5 Freeway straddling Irvine and Tustin.

A row of shops was demolished to make way for a new apartment complex. The first of those rentals is now being pre-leased.

But a more modest construction effort at the site is an example of Irvine Co.’s commitment to better melding diverse real estate types.

A smaller set of stores directly between the new apartments and the shopping center’s movie theater was torn down and rebuilt, just yards away. Adding 6,200 square feet of turf, bookended by shops, produced a smooth transition between housing and the center’s amenities.

“To create space to blend the retail and the apartments together is the thing we’re most excited about,” Rob Elliot, the company’s senior vice president for planning and design, told me.

An enthusiastic response at the grand opening tells Elliot, “People are hungry for those kinds of spaces.”

Various economic and social pressures mean California’s mixed-use developments must evolve.

Simply dividing land into three walled-off purposes – homes, shops, offices – or slapping retail on the bottom of residential or commercial spaces is out. Integrating properties so folks can easily move between housing, work, and play seems to be the secret sauce.

Irvine Co. insiders view Santa Clara Square as their guidepost to this new phase of mixed-use planning.

The company, with nudges from Santa Clara officials, began acquiring a collection of aging, low-rise business park properties off Highway 101 in 2013.

Over the past decade-plus, buildings have been demolished and transformed into 1,800 apartments, 28 stores and restaurants, and 1.7 million square feet of offices. All that took place inside a 100-acre site, which was a learning curve for Irvine Co., used to large parcels of land.

The project’s spice lies in its walkability. No fences separate the various properties, which are dotted with paths and parks that feature 100 mature trees that were either retained or relocated on the site.

“The street is narrow enough so that it encourages pedestrian movement between the office and the retail and the apartments,” Elliot said.

Curious synergy

Irvine Co. can act differently because it is different.

It’s completely owned by Bren, estimated to be worth around $19 billion. Unlike other real estate firms that are often handcuffed by the short-term demands of Wall Street or bankers, Bren’s singular control allows his company the luxury of patient thinking.

And in a real estate world where most companies are niche specialists – focused on just one slice of the property market – Irvine Co. is a multidisciplinary builder and operator.

This means the planning of mixed-use projects can be managed under one umbrella. Its concentrated competitors can be challenged to work across property types.

But it’s not just the broad portfolio. There is a curious synergy between Irvine Co. customers – employers, shopkeepers, renters or homebuyers.

“Businesses are demanding office campuses connected to retail and housing so they can attract employees back to the office,” Elliot said.

And what merchant doesn’t want more shoppers nearby?

Yet putting housing in business districts is more than juggling assets. The live-work-play neighborhood has consumer appeal, too.

“It’s just a different opportunity,” Elliot said. “There’s quite a group, particularly younger people, looking for that kind of living environment.”

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com

IRVINE, CALIF. — CBRE has directed the sale of Creek Medical Buildings, a three-building medical office property located at 37, 39 and 41 Creek Road in Irvine. The asset traded for $16.2 million. Anthony DeLorenzo, Sammy Cemo, Bryan Johnson and Harry Su of CBRE represented the undisclosed seller in the deal. At the time of sale, the 43,374-square-foot property was fully occupied. The asset was built in 1986.

LAKEWOOD, COLO. — Brixton Capital has acquired Whisper Creek, a garden-style multifamily community at 3505 S. Nelson Circle in Lakewood. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Built in 2002 by Fairfield Residential, Whisper Creek offers 272 apartments featuring nine-foot ceilings and averaging 928 square feet spread across two- and three-story residential buildings. Community amenities include 501 parking spaces with detached garages, a resort-style pool and spa, a 24-hour fitness center, clubhouse, business center, outdoor grilling stations, a pet park and a playground.

Greystar will manage the property. Tony Nargi of JLL Capital Markets secured acquisition financing on behalf of Brixton Capital.

SANTA CLARITA, CALIF. — Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors has brokered the $25 million sale of a two-tenant retail property located in Santa Clarita, roughly 30 miles north of Los Angeles. Situated within Centre Pointe Marketplace, the 83,953-square-foot property is occupied by DICK’S Sporting Goods and Burlington. DICK’S has extended its lease and remodeled its store. Meanwhile, Burlington has acquired the lease previously held by JOANN after its bankruptcy. Sean Cox and Kevin Fryman of Hanley represented the seller and developer, locally based Spirit Properties Ltd., and the buyer, in the transaction.

Share

FONTANA, CALIF. — JLL Capital Markets, on behalf of of REDA and a commingled fund managed by Clarion Partners, has arranged the sale of 11119 Juniper Avenue, a Class A distribution facility in Fontana. Terms of the transaction were not released. Cencora (formerly AmerisourceBergen Drug Corp.) leases the 436,424-square-foot Class A center on a long-term basis.

Patrick Nally, Makenna Peter and Evan Moran of JLL represented the seller in the deal. Cody Clayton and Patrick Wood of JLL handled leasing of the asset. Bruce Ganong, Peter Thompson and Taylor Gimian of JLL secured acquisition financing for the undisclosed buyer.

DENVER — Newmark has facilitated $83.8 million in financing for The Deveraux, a multifamily community in Denver’s River North (RiNo) neighborhood. The financing was secured through bank lease-up execution on behalf of an undisclosed borrower. Lee Redmond, Nick Schroeder, Courtney Crowder and Jack Kachadurian of Newmark arranged the financing. Delivered in July 2024, The Deveraux features 374 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments, averaging 732 square feet, and 21,000 square feet of Class A retail space.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of Tru by Hilton Charleston Ashley Phosphate, a 121-room hotel located at 2475 Prospect Drive in North Charleston. Jack Davis, Chase Dewese, Joce Messinger and Brenden DeLuke of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller in the transaction. The buyer purchased the hotel in a 1031 exchange for an undisclosed price. Both parties requested anonymity.

Built in 2020 on a 2.8-acre site, the Tru by Hilton hotel features EV charging stations, an outdoor pool, fitness center and a business center.

The University of California, Irvine has completed its acquisition of the Orange County Museum of Art, officially bringing together two renowned institutions under a shared vision of public access, scholarship and cultural engagement. The resulting entity, now named the UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art, reflects a dedication to curatorial excellence, community service and the long-term vitality of the area’s visual arts ecosystem.

“UC Irvine is committed to ensuring that the region benefits from a world-class art museum that enriches the cultural fabric of Orange County, advances groundbreaking scholarship, nurtures the next generation of creators and thinkers, and inspires curiosity and connection across diverse audiences,” said Chancellor Howard Gillman.

The name of the unified museum honors OCMA’s legacy, affirms UC Irvine’s academic and public mission, and recognizes the generosity of Jack and Shanaz Langson, whose support has elevated the university’s arts presence. The merger brings together over 9,000 works of art and links faculty, students, artists and community members in a new model of creative collaboration.

With the transaction complete, UC Irvine assumes stewardship of OCMA’s 53,000-square-foot, $98 million facility within the Segerstrom Center for the Arts campus. Since opening in its current location in 2022, the Costa Mesa-based museum has quickly become a destination for contemporary art enthusiasts around the nation. Moving forward, the space will also showcase UC Irvine’s celebrated Gerald Buck Collection and Irvine Museum Collection.

The UC Irvine Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art will remain an integral part of the university’s academic mission, operating from an on-campus site to support research, student training and integration across academic programs. At the same time, the Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art will continue to operate at its Von Karman Avenue location in Irvine.

Both entities will continue their planned programming through 2026 as a unified identity takes shape. A transitional landing page will guide visitors to both institutions’ websites, providing uninterrupted access to exhibitions and resources.

As part of the transition, OCMA staff have joined UC Irvine as employees. The university is also conducting a national search for an executive director to lead the UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art into its next chapter.

FACT SHEET

UC Irvine has completed its acquisition of the Orange County Museum of Art, officially launching a newly unified institution: the UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art.

The new UC Irvine Langson Orange County Museum of Art brings together two extraordinary legacies of collecting, research and exhibition – creating one of the most comprehensive art collections in California.

Together, these collections position the museum as a singular cultural resource – a place where past and present meet and where California’s art history is preserved, studied and integrated with the art of today.

Costa Mesa museum site

Irvine museum site

UCI Health‘s newest hospital is slated to start admitting patients on Dec. 7, hospital leaders said, opening a seven-story, 144-bed facility that UCI calls the nation’s first all-electric acute care hospital.

The 350,000-square-foot building stands at the corner of Jamboree Road and Birch Street in Irvine and caps a $1.3 billion medical campus that includes a cancer center and ambulatory care building. Hospital officials say the new facility will serve residents of central, coastal and south Orange County and offer specialties including cancer care, cardiology, digestive health, neurosciences, orthopedics and spine, along with interventional radiology, catheterization services and advanced imaging.

The hospital and adjacent cancer center are connected by a massive surgical “megafloor,” spanning the width of three football fields, with operating rooms, sterilization areas and flexible pre- and post-op recovery space.

“This is a really historic thing,” said Chad Lefteris, president and CEO of UCI Health at a celebration Friday, Sept. 19, marking the completion of construction and being handed the keys for the health system’s second hospital, adding to its medical center in Orange. “We are finally returning to Irvine as a health system. We’ve been up on the Orange freeway for a while and now we’ve returned fully to meet the needs in Irvine and the central and coastal communities.”

The hospital will be the first of its size in the U.S. to run entirely on electricity.

“This is the first all-electric hospital of this size. No gas line coming into this facility,” said Joe Brothman, UCI Health’s director of general services. “By and large, everything runs through electricity. There’s no carbon combustion used to power heat or cool the hospital.”

Instead, the hospital is powered through a partnership with Southern California Edison. The only fossil-fuel-powered equipment on site is three emergency backup generators connected to a massive diesel tank, which Brothman said is enough to keep the entire campus running for at least 96 hours if power goes out.

UCI Health spokesperson John Murray said the move to all-electric will stabilize energy costs for the health system.

“When energy prices spiked a few winters ago, we were spending an extra million dollars on natural gas,” he said. “This will allow us to even out our budget so money is spent where it needs to be spent.”

Planning for the hospital started during the pandemic, Lefteris said, which meant design teams worked virtually, and with a pandemic mindset. Every inpatient room was built large enough to function as an intensive care unit if needed, effectively creating a 144-bed ICU. Though “not the way it’ll be used on day one,” Lefteris said, the option gets the hospital ready “when the next pandemic comes.”

“We’re built for this,” he said.

Private rooms, rather than curtained bays, make up the emergency department, which has 20 treatment rooms.

The rooms average about 250 square feet and many have floor-to-ceiling windows that look over the San Joaquin Marsh Reserve. Lefteris said the facility was designed to connect patients and staff with nature. There are outdoor garden spaces and a collection of hundreds of works by California artists will be displayed throughout the campus.

“A lot of design attention was also spent on blurring the lines between inside and out … to give our patients a moment to take a breath, to give our coworkers a moment to take a breath, look outside and take in these amazing views,” he said.

The hospital will also be home to UCI’s first facility designed specifically for bone marrow transplant patients, Murray said.

On Friday, guests, including UCI Health leaders and members of the hospital construction team, wrote notes to be placed in a time capsule set to be opened in December 2050.

The hospital completes the Irvine medical campus. Last year, UCI Health opened the Joe C. Wen & Family Center for Advanced Care and the Center for Children’s Health and the UCI Health Center for Autism & Neurodevelopmental Disorders. The campus also includes the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and Ambulatory Care.