There’s been changes to the leadership structure of the Irvine Company, OC’s largest real estate firm and arguably the county’s most influential business.
The Newport Beach-based firm recently promoted Frank Abeling and Jonathan Brinsden to the roles of co-president, positions just below chairman and owner Don Bren in Irvine Co.’s current organizational structure.
Chip Fedalen, who had held the president role at Irvine Co. since 2019, recently retired, sources tell the Business Journal.
Abeling joined Irvine Co. in 2010 and previously served as chief operating officer. Brinsden joined Irvine Co. in 2021 after serving as CEO for Houston-based real estate firm Midway and initially ran Irvine Co.’s sprawling office division. He later took on the position of group president, commercial properties for Irvine Co., which counts a commercial portfolio topping 65 million square feet, most of which is office space.
Abeling and Brinsden are part of a three-person Executive Management Committee, alongside CFO Marc Ley, which reports to Bren and Irvine Co.’s board.
Other notables in OC who have risen to the de-facto No. 2 role at Irvine Co. over the years include former CBRE and Koll Co. exec Ray Wirta; Mike McKee, who now is a principal at Peter Ueberroth’s Contrarian Group and chairman of TGR Foundation, the philanthropy founded by Tiger Woods; and Dan Young, who now is helping Henry Samueli oversee the massive OCVibe development in Anaheim, and who has served as chairman at Hoag Hospital.
Changes are also underway at Irvine Company’s Office Properties division, which counts an office portfolio topping 54 million square feet, making it the largest office owner in OC, as well as all California.
EVP Steve Case, who was responsible for leasing strategy at Irvine Co., stepped down from his role at the start of the month. His position is being filled by Beau Rawi, who has been with the firm since 2013.
During Case’s 17-year tenure, Irvine Co. completed in excess of 160 million square feet of leasing, deals totaling $30 billion.
Two of my family’s closest friends arrived in the U.S. after the fall of Saigon in 1975 as children, with few possessions, a handful of family members and limited English.
One made their way through UCI undergrad and UCLA medical school and now runs a thriving dental practice – shout-out to Monrovia Dental Care – while the other is an accomplished business analyst for an Irvine data firm and might well be the best Vietnamese cook outside Brodard Restaurant.
With nearly 200,000 Vietnamese Americans in Orange County – the area is believed to have the largest concentration of Vietnamese Americans outside Vietnam – there are plenty of examples of similar successes.
This week’s edition highlights some of the more prominent entrepreneurs over the past 50 years, turning adversity into opportunity. These entrepreneurs, whose stories start on page 1, truly are Vietnam’s loss and Orange County’s gain.