Vance Mape

Vance C. Mape III was born October 27, 1944, in San Mateo, California. He was educated at Bellarmine College Preparatory and Gonzaga University, where he majored in pre-law, and attended one year of law school at the University of San Francisco before deciding his real interest lay in construction and real estate.

A third-generation real estate and construction developer, Mape grew up in his family's Northern California construction business, Mape Industries, and expanded its operations into Southern California in 1969. Early Southern California projects included construction of the Newport Beach Police Department building and the Big Canyon Country Club clubhouse.

In 1972 he founded his own firm, Western Realco, which he built over five decades into a leading developer of institutional-quality industrial real estate in Southern California. Under his direction the firm developed more than 100 buildings totaling over 25 million square feet, operating on a reputation for being "good to his word and handshake." Mape died at home in Newport Beach on August 25, 2023, after a battle with cancer. The firm continues under principals Jeremy Mape and Gary Edwards.

• Develops and acquires institutional-quality industrial properties — both speculative and build-to-suit — for and with institutional clients.
• Full-cycle real estate approach: land acquisition, entitlements, project development, construction oversight, marketing/leasing, and asset management.
• Stated development philosophy centers on "quick absorption of the projects at the most favorable prices."
• Targets tenant demand in aerospace, defense, household-goods, and consumer/toy manufacturing sectors for its industrial parks (per principal Jeremy Mape).
• Focuses on markets where new industrial supply is constrained — noting that "many municipalities in OC & LA have curbed new industrial development in fear of more trucks," creating value in entitled inland sites.