OCBJ INSIDER

Irvine developer FivePoint Holdings capped off 2020 with a virtual holiday event for employees, their families and other partners that featured a musical performance from country singer Brad Paisley.

In a sign of the times, the late December event was streamed from the country star’s garage near Nashville.

What a difference four months makes. Paisley last week announced a new, in-person tour for later this year. His “Tour 2021” kicks off June 5 in Panama City Beach and ends Oct. 9 at Irvine’s FivePoint Amphitheater. It’s one of a dozen or so concerts thus far announced for the local outdoor venue; the first shows are expected to begin in June, according to the venue’s operator, Live Nation.

Paisley said he’s partnering with Vanderbilt Health in a national PSA to encourage fans attending his shows to get vaccinated.

For more on the long-awaited resumption of OC’s performing arts scene, see Peter J. Brennan’s feature. And for more on FivePoint’s experiences over the past year, see our May 17 print edition, which features five honorees of our latest (virtual) Excellence in Entrepreneurship Awards event.

The event, initially broadcast on May 6, can be viewed by going to ocbj.com/bizevents.

Europe’s richest soccer clubs are examining their financial statements to see if they have the estimated $215 million transfer fee needed to bring Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland to their team next season.

Irvine’s Hyperice already beat the big clubs to get the 20-year-old Norwegian’s signature.

Haaland, widely considered the world’s best soccer player under the age of 21, last week announced a partnership with the local maker of massage guns and other sports recovery products.

Along with being an athlete ambassador for Hyperice, he’s also an investor. The investment, the amount of which was undisclosed, marks his first equity stake in a business, last week’s announcement said.

He joins tennis star Naomi Osaka; Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and San Diego Padres slugger Fernando Tatis Jr. among the ranks of athlete investors in Hyperice, which last year also announced getting an equity investment from the NFL. The 11-year-old company’s valuation is reportedly in the $1 billion range.

Irvine Co. had to work on a rare leasing redo for a high-profile office building last year, when shared-space operator WeWork backed out of a full-building deal at the new Spectrum Terrace.

Other tenants at Spectrum Terrace have fared better since signing deals there. Along with Hyperice, the complex counts e-commerce software firm Kajabi, which last week announced a $550 million funding deal, pushing its valuation past $2 billion. See Jessie Yount’s story for more.

Irvine Co. last week said its companywide office leasing has totaled nearly 7 million square feet since the height of the pandemic, and that activity is picking up of late, with 2 million square feet of that leasing taking place in February and March.

Among new safety initiatives, the landlord said it has upgraded more than 50,000 air filters, installed more than 1,500 sanitizing stations, and added 3,000 touchless bathroom fixtures to its office portfolio.

For more thoughts on what else OC landlords need to do to attract the next generation of talent to their buildings, see Doug Holte and Lauren Kelly’s Leader Board.