New life in desert oasis
mariposa has transformed into a beautiful community ready to take flight
Carved from the rolling desert highlands on the far northwest edge of Rio Rancho, Mariposa is a master-planned community that has had an interesting past and a burgeoning future. A 6,400-acre portion of the extended King Ranch owned by former Gov. Bruce King and his family was master planned in 1989. It was originally intended to straddle a northwest loop road that was to serve as an Albuquerque bypass connecting then NM44 with I-40 east of Nine-Mile Hill.
While the bypass road never materialized because of exorbitant construction costs, the land eventually became the property of High Desert Investment, the investing arm of Albuquerque Academy, and the development progressed on a 1,500-acre portion of the site. Adjoining it, more than 2,000 acres of the Mariposa Preserve is dedicated as open space with more than 50 miles of hiking and biking trails
At the beginning, it was a sparkling jewel of the desert with a 9,870 square foot, state-of-the-art community center that was completed in 2009 and included a fitness center, indoor and outdoor pools, catering kitchen and outdoor barbeques underneath cavernous plazas.
But the looming real estate troubles cut Mariposa off and in 2012, the Academy and HDI yanked support from the project as the bust deepened. The community center was closed after going into foreclosure.
Still, some builders saw the time period as a chance to take advantage of a slumping market.
“We started buying in 2012,” said Tim McNaney, part of the Twilight Homes ownership group. “We
thought it was a great community and a great opportunity. We bought in before then they defaulted.”
The turmoil left homeowners in limbo, builders in a quandary and the future at the very least unsettled, said Mike Sivage of Sivage Homes, which is the last of the original builders.
“The problem was several fold,” he said of Mariposa’s downturn. “The real estate market collapsed, which brought everything to light. During that downturn, it was difficult to sell anything anywhere in terms of residential and everything was significantly less in value across the board. Not just Mariposa, every market across the country. That was a challenge in of itself. When the Academy turned back land to the bond holders that presented even more challenges.”
High Desert was on the hook for debt owed on $16 million in bonds sold through a public improvement district to pay for the original infrastructure to develop the property.
The Rio Rancho City Council in 2014 restructured the district in such a way that it made it viable for Harvard Investments to take it over. The Mariposa East homeowners association was able to takeover and reopen the community center and slowly builders began to come back.
“Until Harvard Investments, we didn’t have a market,” Sivage said. “We didn’t even know if we could even have a market because of the threat of what was going to happen. The future was unpredictable. Unfortunately, for any builder, we were just stuck. There was nothing we could do. There was a several year period with no sales activity whatsoever. We just kind of weathered the storm, and just continued to slog through the years.”
With Harvard breathing new money and credibility into the moribund project, it started attracting additional builders, making it a more viable enterprise for everybody involved.
“When Harvard came in and purchased the restructured bonds to make it work again, there was a little bit of a negative stigma,” Sivage said. “It was just one of those things. That was the first challenge, educating the prospective home buyers and realtors that might have an interest in Mariposa to be able to educate them.”
As the market began to pick up, so did Mariposa.
“That did take awhile, but I think slowly but surely, as the market began to improve, folks began to see the value of the community and the value of the property was reset,” Sivage said. “Homes were being brought out of the ground and homes being priced at much better values than preceding the crash
RayLee Homes and Abrazo Homes were among the local builders that quickly saw the potential that made Mariposa such an attractive development to begin with.
“We saw it as an opportunity to build in a community that offered desirable amenities, outstanding views and gated access to those buyers looking for a ‘move up’ product,” said RayLee’s Tammy Grady Thornton. “This opportunity allowed us to design new product and broaden our plan portfolio. The homes currently offered by RayLee have received countless awards in the Parade of Homes. We recently designed a brand new plan and debuted it in the spring as our new model home.”
Thornton said RayLee has been pleased from the beginning with its involvement in Mariposa.
“Harvard has done a great job marketing Mariposa and reinvigorating the community,” she said. “Having so many reputable builders involved in the community communicates a confidence to the public and promotes stability.”
It’s been a solid presence for RayLees’ Westside portfolio, as well.
“This location has also shown to be perfect for those working/living locally as well as in Santa Fe and Los Alamos therefore we have been able to grow our client base to those sub markets outside of Rio Rancho,” Thornton said. “Several relocation buyers from other states have also found Mariposa to be their first choice for retirement in New Mexico. We are pleased to be a builder for their consideration.”
Likewise, Twilight is seeing its effort rewarded.
“It’s coming along,” McNaney said. “It’s been a ton of work, talking to all of our clients and putting all the puzzle parts together after the Academy walked away from their responsibilities and contractual obligations. It was incredibly difficult, but it’s really coming along now.”
The community is producing about 100 homes per year, Sivage said, which is light years ahead of the pace from just a half decade ago. And that upswing should just continue in a positive manner.
“Solitude and views are among the top priorities of our buyers," Thorton said. "People enjoy the openness, sense of privacy and quiet. The community center and restaurant add to the overall appeal of calling Mariposa home. However, the initial "turnaround' affect and resurgence in momentum and sales was spawned by Mariposa builders. The industry has an old saying, ‘Activity breeds activity,’ and this is what happened. With so many reputable builders offering such an array of product sizes and price points, there are a wide range of options available in Mariposa.”
“We saw it as an opportunity to build in a community that offered desirable amenities, outstanding views and gated access to those buyers looking for a ‘move up’ product.” tammy grady thornton