Let the guessing game begin as Dan Young gets set to step down from the Irvine Company.
Young, widely seen as the No. 2 executive to Chairman Donald Bren, last week said he’ll leave his role as president of Irvine Co.’s community development division at the end of the month.
“After 16 wonderful years at the Irvine Company, I will be leaving to return to my own real estate development company,” Young said in a letter to employees.
Camino Enterprises will be based at the 520 Newport Center office tower near Fashion Island, which is owned by Irvine Co. and next door to its headquarters.
Young said that Bren has asked him to remain as an adviser.
“I am looking forward to continuing my relationship with this company and Donald,” Young said in a separate letter to Irvine Co.’s board.
A replacement for Young at Irvine Co.—where executive moves are closely watched by the area’s real estate community—has not been announced.
Irvine Co. executives declined to comment on the announcement. A new hire or promotion could be made to fill Young’s official role with the community development division, which has broad oversight of residential developments.
The departing executive’s formal title was ostensibly on par with seven other division presidents—a roster of executives who run the company’s retail, office, apartment operations, apartment development, resort, land sales and homebuilding, and investment properties divisions.
It remains to be seen who might occupy Young’s unofficial role as Bren’s top adviser.
Irvine Co.’s investment portfolio totals 115 million square feet, including 47.5 million square feet of office space and 8.8 million square feet of retail space, in addition to its apartment and resort portfolios.
The Business Journal estimates the company brings in more than $2 billion in revenue annually.
It was the largest commercial real estate developer in Orange County last year in terms of square footage of projects completed here, and it has the largest backlog of projects in the works (see Commercial Developers list, page 20).
It’s the largest owner of offices and apartments here, and holds the same distinction on offices in San Diego.
2010 Push
Young was responsible for all residential development on the Irvine Ranch, and helped guide the community planning and development process for the privately held company.
His work at Irvine Co. grabbed the spotlight in 2010, when he spearheaded Irvine Co.’s executive builder program, whereby homebuilders were paid by the developer to put up homes on land it owned in seven Irvine neighborhoods.
The program helped to kick-start a handful of new local homebuilders, including Irvine-based TRI Pointe Group Inc. and Aliso Viejo-based New Home Co., and saw more than 850 home sales in less than a year, helping to resuscitate a largely dormant local homebuilding industry.
The Business Journal named Young its Businessperson of the Year in real estate for his work here in 2010.
The Irvine Ranch has been the best-selling master-planned development in California since then and the second-best-selling development in the country.
Young also oversaw Irvine Pacific LP, the in-house building division of Irvine Co.—the largest homebuilder in OC by sales the past few years—as well as the company’s nearly 57,000 apartment units.
‘Magnificent Land’
Young’s exit is the highest-level executive departure at Irvine Co. since 2008, when then-Chief Executive Mike McKee left the real estate investor and developer.
No one had taken over the CEO role since McKee’s departure, although company insiders pointed to Young as Bren’s most trusted adviser and his second-in-command since then.
There’s been no indication that Irvine Co. plans to immediately promote any of the remaining seven presidents to a new role following Young’s departure, or that the real estate company plans to hire one or more outside executives to replace him, according to sources familiar with the company’s operations.
Young’s decision—which came as a surprise in local real estate circles—points to some additional duties for Bren, Orange County’s wealthiest person with a fortune estimated at more than $15 billion.
Retirement continues to look unlikely for Bren, 84, who has cited his late stepfather, steel magnate Earle Jorgensen, and Arnold Beckman as idols. Both worked into their 100s.
Young, a former mayor of Santa Ana, said the company’s in good shape.
“The company has an outstanding management team ready to deliver an exciting 10-year growth plan,” he said in a letter to the company’s board.
“It’s been an incredible opportunity to be part of a mission to create the best real estate in the country on the most magnificent land on the planet.”
