Pulido’s Pals; Doti’s Elbow Room; Witte’s Range

Anyone else notice former L.A. mayor, current Banc of California adviser and potential 2018 gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa introduced Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido at last week’s State of the City Address? Notice that Pulido took an opportunity at the same event to venture out on a limb with a suggestion that the One Broadway Plaza project—long a dream of Mike Harrah, another Pulido pal who was in the room—might actually get going soon? … Anyone else get the feeling Jim Doti already is starting to enjoy some elbow room as he gets ready to step down from the president’s post at Chapman U? He seems to be feeling a bit more contrarian than usual these days, as anyone who turns to page 48 will find in his caution on the economy of California—and Orange County’s. The piece delves deeper into some points raised by Doti in Chapman’s economic forecast last week, when his contrarian mood extended to Europe—although his plainly unique take on Brexit went largely unreported. “With all the hoopla over Brexit, analysts seem to be ignoring the most critical underlying issue: the EU has failed,” Doti recapped for the Insider. “It has sadly become a weak union of bickering countries with a bureaucracy that seems to spend most of its time imposing irrational regulatory policies on everyone” … Quick math on the turnout and tenor at the groundbreaking hosted by Emile Haddad for the Luminaira and Espaira developments at FivePoint Communities’ Great Park Neighborhoods: Nothing succeeds like success … Quick question: Does any developer have broader range than Related California under Bill Witte’s leadership? The Irvine-based outfit is well-known for high-end projects everywhere from Bunker Hill in L.A. to Newport Center, where it hopes to get a go-ahead to build luxe condos. It’s notable that Related is FivePoint’s partner on Luminaira and Espaira—both of which bring affordable rental housing to the larger Great Park development. And just as notable that Witte’s crew has brought 1,610 affordable units to market at 14 projects from Anaheim to Laguna Beach, with another six projects and more than 500 units in the works in Irvine and elsewhere … The table was abuzz with speculation about the arrangements of pineapples and citrus fruits that adorned tables at the Business Journal’s 17th annual Family Owned Business Awards at the Hotel Irvine on June 22. Something edible to play into the foodie trend? Reusable—or sustainable—as a way to cut costs on centerpieces? Then Jeremy Kietzke sliced through the mystery with a suggestion that the fruitful bounty likely had something to do with keynoters Steve and Alexis Schulze, co-founders of Nekter Juice Bar … Pretty impressive, but the younger Kietzke soon yielded to his father, David, who represented the family in claiming top honors in the large-company category for Professional Plastics in Fullerton (see profile, page 9, related coverage pages 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 49) … Kudos to Fletcher “Ted” Jones and new wife, Asia, who celebrated their recent nuptials in high fashion at the Resort at Pelican Hill, where the menu started with caviar and crab legs and finished up with to-go bags of burgers and fries from TK Burgers—with a surprise performance by country star Luke Bryan in between … Sullivan says: There’s nowhere cooler on a hot day than the lobby of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel.