Land Grant Provides Common Ground for Former Combatants
OC INSIDER: by Rick Reiff
Some folks were surprised at all of the nice things Joan Irvine Smith had to say about Donald Bren for his recent decision to set aside 11,000 acres for permanent open space. They shouldn’t have been. Sure, Smith once was a dissident on The Irvine Company board, and their lawyers fought for eight years over how much Bren should pay Smith and her mom for their shares (settling on $256 million in 1991). But Smith is a nature lover. And the two have regarded their business differences as just that. They joked and posed for a photo immediately after the ’91 court battle and they have remained cordial, chatting it up at the annual UCI Medal dinner and other social events. They’ve known each other since young Don built homes on young Joan’s family ranch. Indeed, the Insider is told Smith urged Bren to make his initial investment in the Irvine Co. back in 1977. Bren’s wife Brigitte is a fan of Smith’s collection of California art and has visited her Irvine museum. Bren invited Smith to the landgrant briefing at the Four Seasons Hotel Newport Beach, where she thanked him in the presence of reporters. “I could not have done it better myself This is precedent-setting. My grandfather would be so very, very pleased.” Smith and a grateful Bren then discussed getting together after the holidays The Insider hears: Golf memberships at soon-to-open Shady Canyon are going for $195,000 ($165,000 if you buy a home there, too). That tops venerable Big Canyon, where a membership recently sold for $163,000. And Shady Canyon’s monthly dues will be $750, compared with $525 at Big Canyon Doug DeCinces has a New Year’s resolution,to get back on the golf course. The 51-year-old developer and Angels great recently spent time in Hoag Hospital for treatment of, and complications from, an irregular heartbeat (atrial defibrillation). DeCinces said the heart problem began when he underwent a hip replacement two years ago Wahoo’s co-owner Ed Lee is a graduate of Newport Harbor High and OC chapter president of the California Restaurant Association. That helps to explain why the CRA has given the school $20,000 to build a kitchen for its culinary classes. But food-service training for Newport kids? “They realize not all of them are cut out for the white-collar world,” says Ed’s brother and co-owner Wing Lam (Estancia High, Costa Mesa), who adds that chefs such as Wolfgang Puck and Emeril have become role models. The casual, fun-loving Lam is worth copying, too.
