Editor’s Note: Since 2022, Dan Hedigan has been CEO of Irvine-based Five Point Holdings, a real estate developer that has 40,000 homes built or planned and has an $811 million market cap (NYSE: FPH).
With the holidays behind us, I enter 2026 with a renewed sense of gratitude and purpose.
Family gatherings and feasts (and the added calories that come with them) between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day are always enjoyable. Still, they also prompt resolutions to shed a few extra pounds and get healthier.
But what if we were to start the new year by thinking more broadly about how to make Orange County a healthier community? What would it look like for individuals and businesses to really step up this year and collectively contribute to the well-being of our communities?
For FivePoint, creating a healthier community goes beyond land planning and physical structures. Our mission is to strengthen communities, create life-enriching opportunities and connect people in meaningful ways.
The City of Irvine and one of its newest communities, the FivePoint-developed Great Park Neighborhoods, provide a benchmark for how to successfully integrate essential “building blocks” to a healthy community.
We believe there are fundamental and universal elements that any community or employer must have to thrive. When these must-have elements are added and function in harmony with one another, there are multiplying benefits that extend far beyond the communities FivePoint is creating in Irvine, Valencia and San Francisco.
They include:
Homes
Having access to a home to call your own is foundational to the American Dream. It’s also the biggest threat to Orange County maintaining its relevance if housing becomes less available, attainable or affordable.
To date, Great Park Neighborhoods has welcomed families living in more than 6,500 new homes, with thousands more to come.
Importantly, in partnership with Related California and local nonprofit organizations, we are proud to have developed the property and helped fund the construction of six affordable apartment communities totaling 853 units within Great Park Neighborhoods for income-qualifying families and seniors—with plans to construct more this year.
Parks
Parks are the centerpiece and heartbeat of any special community. They add charm and connectivity—and encourage outdoor living and exercise.
Great Park Neighborhoods has 10 parks anchoring each of its eight neighborhoods, with more to come. They are adjacent to Great Park Sports Park and Great Park Trails, which we constructed and now part of the City of Irvine’s spectacular network of parks and trails.
Jobs
Irvine is a major job center in the county. One-third of all Fortune 500 companies have a presence here, along with more than 900 tech companies.
Time and again, we hear that the lack of housing near workplaces is a significant challenge for global and local companies recruiting and retaining top-tier talent in Irvine.
Parker Aerospace, for example, generates billions in annual sales from 36 locations worldwide. Four of those operating divisions are headquartered in Irvine. They employ roughly 1,800 employees who design, build, test and support major systems for the global aerospace markets. A Parker executive recently shared how some employees have had commutes of 90 minutes to 2 hours each way to get to work in Irvine.
This is unacceptable.
It increases the urgency to create more pathways to home ownership for future generations of families, not to mention it provides a critical tax base to ensure cities’ long-term vitality.
Education
Irvine’s origins began with my alma mater, UCI. Today, more than 60 years after it was founded, the city is widely considered as one of the nation’s best places to receive a quality education.
Irvine Unified School District (IUSD) consistently ranks among the top in the state for academic achievement, including state test scores and college readiness.
FivePoint proudly designed and funded the construction of four schools within Great Park Neighborhoods—three K-8s and Portola High School—in partnership with IUSD. Residents living in our Luna Park neighborhood also attend three highly regarded schools within the Saddleback Valley Unified School District.
Thousands of students have since graduated from these campuses, and it’s inspiring to see how teachers are shaping them into thoughtful and well-rounded adults—just as my kids found their paths and passions as graduates of Irvine’s public schools.
Healthcare
A beautiful home, career, education and economic stability mean very little without good health. Fortunately, Irvine has an ever-expanding roster of healthcare facilities.
With the goal of bringing compassionate care, pioneering research and lifesaving therapies to Irvine, FivePoint founder and Chairman Emeritus Emile Haddad extended an invitation to City of Hope Orange County in 2018 to establish roots on the FivePoint Gateway campus near the Great Park.
It led to the opening of 190,000-square-foot City of Hope Orange County Lennar Foundation Cancer Center in August 2022 and, as of last month, the opening of Orange County’s only cancer-specialty hospital that connects directly to the cancer center.
City of Hope acquired the remainder of our campus about a year ago to enable future expansion of its operations. Most importantly, this investment further advances the mission to bring highly specialized cancer research, treatment and cures to Orange County.
Paying it Forward
As a personal beneficiary of these essential “building blocks,” I believe the best way to express my gratitude is to give back to the community that’s given me so much.
Supporting the fight against cancer in honor of friends and loved ones is one way to start the year with renewed purpose and contribute to the overall well-being of our community.
To that end, I am pleased to co-lead the 2026 Spirit of Life campaign alongside City of Hope and the Construction Industries Alliance (comprising of homebuilders and many Âother industries).
Our goal is to collectively raise $2 million from generous business leaders and companies willing to further the advancement of lifesaving cancer research, treatment and education.
And when we reach this goal, we’ll get together to celebrate life (and its various building blocks) on May 30 at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach.
To learn more and join me in support of this important cause, email ciaevents@coh.org.
