Mission Viejo Co. President Becomes Firm’s New CEO : Developer: Craig L. McCallum adds title. Retiring James G. Gilleran pioneered master-planned community concept.

Craig L. McCallum, president of the Mission Viejo Co., has added the title of chief executive officer following the recent retirement of James G. Gilleran, a veteran of more than two decades with the land development company.

Gilleran, 62, was originally an executive with Phillip Morris Cos., the tobacco conglomerate that bought the land company in 1972. The Mission Viejo Co. had been founded eight years earlier with 10,000 acres of Rancho Mission Viejo. A former accountant, Gilleran is credited with helping direct the growth of South County.

“After 37 years, he was ready to spend some time with the family,” said Wendy Wetzel-Harder, spokeswoman for the Mission Viejo Co. “It’s still business as usual here.”

“When he started, Mission Viejo was out in the boondocks and now it is one of the finest master-planned communities in the United States. I think Gilleran would like to be remembered for having pioneered the master-planned community concept,” said Larry Webb, president of Greystone Homes, a Newport Beach home builder, who worked for the Mission Viejo Co. in the mid-1980s.

Gilleran, a Mission Viejo resident who had been president and CEO since 1988, did not want his retirement publicly announced and was not available for interviews Friday, company officials said.

McCallum, who also declined to be interviewed, was most recently president of Mission Viejo Co.’s Colorado division. He currently lives in Highlands Ranch, Colo. His affiliation with the development company began in 1973 when he was a planner with the engineering firm of Raub, Bien Frost and Associates in Orange County, a portion of which was acquired by the Mission Viejo Co. Before that, he worked in the planning department of the Irvine Co.

Both men worked for the company when Mission Viejo, the company’s master-planned development, became Orange County’s 27th city in 1988. The Mission Viejo Co. was founded in 1963 with 10,000 acres of Rancho Mission Viejo.

Real estate executives described Gilleran as a strong, dynamic leader and a good public speaker who liked to be in charge and make decisions.

“I think he brought a level of professionalism and discipline to the company early on,” said Harvey Stearn, who left the Mission Viejo Co. in 1989 to form Pacific Gateway Homes in Irvine.

The Mission Viejo planned community now has more than 26,500 homes and apartment units and more than 75,000 residents. The community is expected to swell to about 90,000 people when it completes its 30-year plan in 1996.