Irvine Co. rebuilds at executive level

Three Irvine Co. executives are shuffling positions as a longtime president plans to step back to enjoy life with his wife while keeping a hand in the business as an advisor to Donald Bren.

On July 1, Clarence Barker, president of the Irvine Co.’s Investment Properties Group, will officially give up his title and begin a part-time assignment so he can tackle a list of personal goals with his wife, including digging into a “stack of unread books,” he wrote in a memo to colleagues Friday.

“The dream of building a second home in the wine country was unfulfilled,” Barker wrote. “The lofty, imaginative goals of mastering new personal skills remained just that — goals — as I focused most of my time and energy on work.”

Barker was unavailable for an interview Friday afternoon due to meetings and being delayed at Oakland International Airport because of a security breach.

For the last 20 years, Barker worked for the Irvine Co. and oversaw or had a hand in many of the developer’s major projects, including Irvine Spectrum and many of the company’s office and apartment projects.

“When people see some of the signage changes and landscaping changes — all of that was done under Clarence’s guidance,” vice chairman Michael McKee said.

“We’ve experienced lots of growth and reinvestment back into the community on a very intentional basis and our expansion into San Diego.”

McKee said he and other company executives were pleased that their pool of existing talent at the company made it unnecessary to recruit an outsider to succeed Barker.

Rick Gilchrist, president of Irvine Co.’s Office Properties division, will replace Barker, and Val Wheelers, executive vice president of asset management for Office Properties, will succeed Gilchrist.

For the next six months, Barker will oversee the transition of the Investment Properties Group and will continue to head up Irvine Co.’s resort division, especially with the continued construction at Pelican Hill.

“Clarence has been the continuity there since its early concept,” McKee said. “He wants to make sure we don’t miss a beat in getting it open on time.”

Along with continual oversight of the resort properties, McKee said Barker will collaborate with Bren on special future projects included in the company’s five-year business plan.

“Clarence is one of our most collegial and beloved persons; he’s just a saint,” McKee said. “It’s like any good friend that you don’t get to see everyday [anymore] — it goes without saying that he’ll be missed.”