Under Donald Bren's leadership, The Irvine Company is strongly committed to the communities in which it conducts business.
Under Donald Bren's leadership, the Irvine Company's involvement in and support of the communities it creates continue long after the last family moves into a new neighborhood or the doors open for business in a new retail center.
The company's community commitment is diverse, far-reaching and is guided by a single overriding goal: Improve the quality of lives for all residents. It involves the following:
- Working closely with city of Irvine leaders, the Irvine Company provides a comprehensive spectrum of housing for people in all phases of life. This includes collaborating with the city to provide a range of affordable, subsidized housing for the city's lower-income residents.
- Even in an affluent area like The Irvine Ranch, there is a considerable need for services to assist individuals and families who sometimes experience difficult times; who, due to job losses and other unexpected life events, find themselves suddenly homeless and struggling financially. That's why for many years Mr. Bren has directed significant company resources toward assisting community organizations that help people in such situations retain their dignity and restore their financial footing and independence. Over the years the company has donated millions to assist these programs.
- Believing that a well-rounded, quality education is the fundamental building block of a successful community, the Irvine Company and the Donald Bren Foundation have contributed more than $200 million toward public schools and four-year universities. The gifts cover a wide breadth of important programs, events, recognitions and scholarships, from a recent $20 million gift to fund critical enrichment programs, to annual awards programs recognizing outstanding teachers and high school seniors.
- While the architectural styles and uses of the Irvine Company's investment properties vary widely from neighborhood to neighborhood and community to community, the one characteristic they all share is quality. The Irvine Company continually reinvests in its properties to ensure they set the standards in their respective industries when it comes to quality. In fact, under Mr. Bren's direction, the company recently completed an unprecedented $240-million initiative to refurbish dozens of its shopping centers, office buildings, apartment communities and resort properties.
The company's commitment to the communities it creates takes other significant forms as well. On a large scale, Mr. Bren is passionate about designing and creating communities that are not only beautiful and highly livable, but also sustainable and sensitive to the magnificent natural resources of The Irvine Ranch.
For many years, as just one example, the Irvine Company has played a major role in collaborative and remarkably successful efforts to protect the area's water quality and conserve water. These efforts have taken many forms, from a decades-long, multi-agency push to restore Upper Newport Bay to its pristine condition, to the extensive use of drip irrigation on crops on the ranch to conserve water and prevent runoff and erosion, to teaming with biologists, scientists and environmentalists on a unique system that will prevent runoff from reaching the sensitive ocean waters near the company's coastal developments.
