Irvine Co.’s Apartment Unit Gets New Chief

Irvine Apartment Communities, the publicly traded arm of the Irvine Co., on Monday appointed Los Angeles real estate executive Steven P. Albert as president and chief executive officer.

Albert, 52, will replace T. Patrick Smith, who helped take the Irvine Co.’s apartment portfolio public in 1993. Smith abruptly resigned his $275,000-a-year position March 8 to pursue other interests.

Irvine Apartment Communities is a real estate investment trust that owns 43 apartment developments with more than 11,300 rental units. It develops new apartment buildings on Southern California’s 90-square-mile Irvine Ranch for the Irvine Co., Orange County’s largest landowner.

Albert will join the company in early May from Forest City Enterprises, a nationwide real estate investment company, where he now serves as president of two Los Angeles-based subsidiaries.

The 25-year veteran of the real estate industry will be taking over at IAC while it is in the midst of an aggressive expansion--it is now building five new apartment communities in Irvine.

“Steve Albert is a seasoned real estate executive with an outstanding background in all facets of apartment development, construction and asset management,” said Donald Bren, chairman and acting president and chief executive officer of IAC.

Albert is a graduate of Cal State Long Beach, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He and his wife, Gail, plan to move to Newport Beach.

Separately Monday, IAC’s stock price dropped by 12 1/2 cents in New York Stock Exchange trading to close at $15.625 a share.