Scottsdale firm buys Rio Rancho’s Mariposa East

Nov 3, 2014
Damon Scott
Albuquerque Business First

Rio Rancho’s master planned community — Mariposa East — has a new owner.

Harvard Investments has purchased the 800-acre property for an undisclosed amount, which now has 130 homes built and 125 lots sold. Harvard Investments is based in Scottsdale, Arizona, and its parent firm is Canada’s Hill Cos. One of the nation’s largest land brokerage firms, Land Advisors Organization, has listed the property for sale since 2013. Click on “View Photos” to see more images of the area. Mariposa East is located north of Rio Rancho’s City Center at 2729 Redondo Santa Fe NE.

Mariposa East was a victim of the recession when the original developer — High Desert Investment Corp. — stopped work there in 2012. It left residents with a potentially huge increase in tax payments toward $16 million in bond debt that High Desert incurred for the installation of a water treatment system. Lawyers representing Mariposa later outlined a bond restructuring plan to lessen the blow, and homebuilding activity has slowly begun to return to the community, including a grand re-opening of a 10,000-square-foot community center. In May, the center was purchased out of foreclosure buy Mariposa homebuilder Twilight Homes, which re-deeded it to the Mariposa Community Association.

Recently the Rio Rancho City Council approved a restructuring of the Mariposa Public Improvement District (PID), resolving the prior bond issues, which stakeholders now hope will spur even more growth and development. Harvard Investments plans to add to the line-up of homebuilders and offer homes that range from the mid-$200,000s to $1 million. Mariposa is the firm’s first New Mexico project and it hopes the community will eventually have 2,000 homes.

Harvard Investments is a real estate investment and development firm with holdings across the western United States. Hill Cos. is a privately held diversified company involved in real estate development, oil and gas production and distribution, broadcasting, surety bonding and life insurance.