Irvine Company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Irvine Company is a century-old, privately held company based in Orange County, California, and specializing in real estate development. It grew out of the 185 square mile (479 km²) ranch founded by James Irvine I and two other partners in 1864 from Mexican and Spanish land grants. The ranch covers a fifth of Orange County and spans from the Pacific Ocean from Newport Bay to Laguna Beach up to Santa Ana Canyon and the boundary of the Cleveland National Forest. The first parcel of land to be purchased by Irvine, Flint and Bixby was the Rancho San Joaquin, which constitutes the coastal half of the present-day ranch. It was purchased from the Mexican aristocrat Jose Antonio Sepulveda shortly after California entered the United States. Sepulveda had to foreclose his ranch due to a terrible drought that killed all his prized livestock. The second half to be purchased was the Rancho Lomas de Santiago, which was largely unfarmable due to its steep, hilly terrain. It was being used largely as a sheep ranch by the Santa Ana-based agricultural entrepreneur William Wolfskill.
Today, the company is known in Orange County as the developer of master-planned communities throughout Central and Southern Orange County. A partial list of cities within the boundaries of the Irvine Ranch:
The communities are marked with a suburban feel and attract relatively affluent residents. Despite the large population of the cities, public transportation remains undeveloped, with most residents choosing to drive private cars and commuting.
The Irvine Company owns a large number of popular commercial areas such as the Irvine Spectrum Center and Fashion Island which is surrounded by Newport Center.
The company donated a part of its ranch near Newport Beach to the University of California for construction of a new UC campus (see map). The university named the new campus UC Irvine after the company, and the city of Irvine, officially incorporated in 1971, grew around it.
The company is currently led by chairman Donald Bren.
