Donald Bren

There’s something in the water over at Irvine Company. 

The Southern California-based real estate investment firm, one of the largest in the U.S. and overseen by one of the wealthiest men in real estate in Donald Bren, now 93, outdid itself in 2024 — even after setting a high bar in 2023.

The firm leased 11.5 million square feet of office space to more than 1,000 tenant companies, some 2 million square feet more than in 2023. It now owns more than 590 high-quality office buildings, mostly in Orange County but also in West Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area. 

The sheer volume of leasing activity is due in part to Irvine’s commitment to keeping up the quality of its assets; the company invested more than $538 million in its workplaces throughout last year. Its occupancy rate of 90 percent and retention rate of 66 percent last year, both well above industry averages, are evidence of that fact. 

Despite its Southern California focus, some of Irvine’s biggest leases last year came by way of law firms in the Windy City and the Big Apple. In Chicago, the company leased 282,600 square feet to PricewaterhouseCoopers and 271,800 square feet to law firm Mayer Brown. In New York, it leased 237,800 square feet to law firm Winston & Strawn and 204,300 square feet to CBRE, both at the Metlife Building at 200 Park Avenue. Irvine had a big year at the Metlife Building in particular — aside from buying out Tishman Speyer’s share in the property last summer for an undisclosed sum, Irvine also managed to land a $1.5 billion refi of the 58-story tower this February.

Yet the company has its toes dipped in far more than just office. It also owns some 65,000 residential units across 125 properties, plus 40 retail centers, five marinas, three golf courses, and the 504-acre Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Coast, Calif. Indeed, one of CO’s most read stories last year concerned the company’s plans to convert 107,000 square feet of office space in its backyard into 700 apartments.