The demise of the controversial condo project near Disneyland Resort may be the least of SunCal’s worries. Bruce Elieff’s big Irvine-based company, like so many developers, is feeling the housing-market squeeze. SunCal has graded more than 1,000 lots at McAllister Ranch in Bakersfield but has not said when homes will start going up. SunCal has circulated a book of projects among potential investors and real estate types; spokesman David Soika said the book was a routine solicitation for investors that the company initiated last summer but withdrew when the mortgage market collapsed. Work continues at the Marblehead and Pacifica San Juan developments in South OC …
The first time Steven Mihaylo appeared before the California State University Board of Trustees, it was for giving his alma mater Cal State Fullerton $4.5 million; last week when he met again with the board, it was for giving another $30 million. “You’re welcome back anytime,” CSUF Prez Milt Gordon told Mihaylo at a Center Club thank-you dinner. Dean Anil Puri says Mihaylo’s naming gifts for the business school and its new building confirm that CSUF and its legion of 170,000 alums can play in the big leagues of collegiate endowments. Mihaylo, who lives in Reno, founded Arizona-based communications company Inter-Tel. He tried unsuccessfully to stop Canada’s Mitel from buying the company last year, but netted about $100 million for his stake. Now that it will join Merage and Argyros in b-school circles, just what kind of a name is Mihaylo? Probably Eastern European, possibly Ukranian,Mihaylo says his mom was 100% Italian, but dad was a “Heinz” kid …
Speaking of Cal State Fullerton alums, Richard Davis, CEO of Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp, has added the title of chairman. He succeeds Jerry Grundhofer, kid brother of another banker/former OCer, Jack Grundhofer …
Former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth drew a hard line on “Inside OC”,if Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are found to have used steroids, they should be deleted from the record books. Ueberroth, chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee, promised that America will send a “drug-free” team to Beijing …
He may be known around here as Mr. Julie Hill, but in London Peter Hill is CEO of Laird Group. And now he’s been named Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. That puts him on a par with Allergan’s David Pyott and just one rung below OC’s knight, Sir Eldon Griffiths …
The OC supes are debating whether to launch a national search or stick closer to home to find Mike Carona’s permanent replacement as sheriff. Either way, they agree on one thing: “As opposed to the Great Park, all five of us will have access to the resumes,” says Bill Campbell, jabbing at Larry Agran’s refusal to share CEO applications with fellow Great Park board members Christina Shea and Steven Choi.
