Donald Koll, one of Orange County’s most prominent commercial real estate developers, died on Tuesday night at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a heart attack. He was 78.
Koll, a Balboa Island resident who had kept a low public profile since suffering a stroke in late 2005, is a legend in real estate circles.
His Newport Beach-based Koll Company and other predecessor businesses have been responsible for the development of more than 90 million square feet of office and industrial buildings, as well as resorts, in the U.S., Mexico and Asia.
The modern, multitenant business park, now a standard sight across the country, largely was forged in the late 1960s by Koll, who also pioneered the use of enlisting corporate backers for projects.
A 1968 deal with what’s now Aetna Inc. to build big business parks is widely cited as the first example of a real estate developer hooking up with a corporate backer.
In OC, he helped forge the skyline around John Wayne Airport, where office complexes and business parks he developed still bear his name.
Along with Irvine Company’s Donald Bren and Costa Mesa’s Henry Segerstrom, Koll is considered to be part of a core group of formative developers who’ve shaped modern OC.
Dozens of real estate executives, both in OC and across the country, got their break by working for Koll and his numerous ventures.
Koll and his companies “have produced the most talented real estate professionals in the business,” said James “Watty” Watson, one of Koll’s closest friends and chief executive of Aliso Viejo-based real estate investor CT Realty Investors. “You only have to look at the Koll alumni running the major real estate operations today to see Don’s continuing influence on the business.”
A former Air Force fighter pilot, Koll was something of a cowboy developer with a risk-taking, old-school style and a fearless attitude.
Those traits, imparted to others at Koll who went on to start their own businesses, have gone a long way in making OC a real estate hub, with Newport Beach becoming home to more developers than just about any city in the country.
Koll is survived by his wife Kathi, six children, and 20 grandchildren.
Details of funeral services are pending.
The Business Journal will provide more details in our print edition of Dec. 12.
