Roundup Bites the Dust in Showdown at the Irvine Co.

The Irvine Co. Roundup, generally considered Orange County’s biggest social bash of the year, has come to the end of the trail, at least for the time being, a victim of the development company’s cost-cutting showdown.

Thomas Nielsen, president of the Newport Beach firm, confirmed Friday that the company’s executive committee decided this year to call off the party, usually scheduled for the third Saturday in September.

For the past three years, the bash, hosted by Irvine Co. owner Donald Bren, has brought out celebrities like Peter Ueberroth, Gov. George Deukmejian and U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson, and about 1,500 “friends” and business associates of the company, decked out in their rhinestone cowboy best.

Although the company declines to disclose how much the tent-topped extravaganza costs, a local public relations firm estimates that--what with invitations, catering, big name entertainment and props like 15-foot saguaro cacti and Cherokee war bonnet centerpieces--the tab comes to about $130,000. Other estimates put the cost at nearly twice that.

Nielsen said the decision to scratch the roundup party--a remnant of the company’s cattle ranching history--was made earlier this summer when other cost-saving measures at the company were approved. The measures included the dismissal last month of 240 of the company’s 1,343 employees and a reduction in charitable and political gifts and donations.

“We’ve decided not to hold the roundup this year in view of our concerns about the current economic environment,” Nielsen said. He also pointed to uncertainty about the impact of new federal tax legislation on real estate holdings and development and increased pressure on the company from government to pay a larger share of the cost of building freeways and such facilities as fire houses, civic centers and schools.

“It is time when one needs to be prudent and take all the steps one can so you have as much control and reserves as you can muster,” Nielsen said. However, he denied that the company was in financial trouble and he said it would consider reviving the roundup next year.

Just across the range from the Irvine Co., the Santa Margarita Co. holds another roundup party in Rancho Mission Viejo each March, a lively but less expensive barbecue that follows branding of the company’s own cow herd. About 2,000 guests attended this year.