The Insider hears that if escrow closes on a coastal home in Irvine Cove it will set yet another high-water mark for an OC sale,$27.5 million …
On a related note: The marketing campaign is months away and sales won’t start for about a year, but would-be homebuyers are lining up at the scenic Dana Point Headlands. About 400 names are on a priority list for 118 lots, with more than half of the 26 beachfront parcels spoken for, the Insider hears. Most beachfront seekers want double lots, pushing the expected price tag to more than $10 million for two-fifths of an acre. “We are going to give our buyers the freedom of using virtually any architectural style, but we’ll demand very high-quality design and materials,” says developer Sanford Edward. “We also have all the approvals, so none of our buyers need to go to the Coastal Commission for permits!” Construction has begun on the envisioned 121-acre resort,renamed The Strand at the Headlands,but at least one legal hurdle remains: The Surfriders have a court hearing June 15 …
DNC chair Howard Dean visited OC Dem chief Frank Barbaro and local Democratic Foundation chair Wylie Aitkin last week at Antonello’s. The last time a DNC chair paid a visit here was 30 years ago …
The Insider is told there was an uncomfortable, but humorous, moment when an OC Biz Council contingent met with state Sen. Jackie Speier during a lobbying trip to Sacramento. The San Francisco liberal was enthusiastically describing a bill she’s sponsoring to recoup $50 billion in federal funds she says California is owed for being a “donor state.” OCBC consultant Wallace Walrod interrupted to suggest she consider OC’s longstanding gripe that it is a “donor county.” “I don’t think we want to go that far,” Speier stammered, suggesting it would be difficult to equitably distribute water and other resources between north and south …
Marc Levin said he got tired of running a hedge fund in Chicago, so a year and a half ago he started spending time in OC. To get acquainted with the community, he has purchased at least 100 shares of 17 different OC-based companies,and has met most of the principals, including Henry Samueli of Broadcom, Bob McKnight of Quiksilver, David Pyott of Allergan and Ted Smith of FileNet. He has 10 more local companies on his shopping list. Levin also is getting involved with nonprofits; he played Donald Trump in this year’s CHOC Follies …
PR chief David Paine was in Big Fork, Mont., for the 100th birthday of grandfather-in-law Cyrus Rishoff: “He was born before public relations was created and he doesn’t think the world is a better place since it came along.” Paine noted that Mr. and Mrs. Rishoff have been married for 75 years: “He was 21 and she was 14. It’s a great love story except today it would get you a year in jail.”
