These properties are held in 3 LLC'S that will transfer to the new owner, if wanted. There is approximately 800 acres, mostly 0.5 to 1 acre lots. The properties were purchased one at a time and through title company. The original investors paid $11M for these lots. They stopped paying the taxes due to a loss. There is $470K, in back taxes. This is included in the price of $1.2M.

The location is called Rio Rancho Estates, just outside GROWING Rio Rancho, a suburb of Albuquerque. There is a lot of outward pressure in the area as many residents are seeking to leave the city limits but stay in commuting range. Rio Rancho is home to an Intel hub and has committed to a $3.5 billion expansion. 

Rio Rancho Estates is very sparsely populated, with only a handful of established subdivisions. These lots are pretty spread out, which is really the only reason they haven't sold yet. Community water is largely unavailable yet and many who live there dig wells. Electricity is more readily accessible but some areas would need solar until infrastructure expands. The roads are all dirt. This is still very appealing for many people, especially as property prices soar.

From the Sandoval Sign Post, a monthly newsmagazine in Sandoval County where this property is located(2006):

Last month, Sandoval County development director Michael Springfield announced the discovery of a significant supply of brackish water beneath the Rio Puerco basin. The discovery provided vindication for county officials who invested $2.5 million of public funding into the exploration project to sink three wells as deep as nine thousand feet into the Rio Puerco in hopes of finding enough water to supply to up to eighty thousand residents of the proposed planned community Rio West. Sandoval County has a controlling interest in the water project in partnership with Rio West developer Recorp Partners of Scottsdale, Arizona.

Springfield said that preliminary testing indicates that there is potential of more than fifty thousand acre feet per year for one hundred years discovered at thirty-seven-hundred feet (a considerable savings from the estimated nine thousand feet.) Water flowed from the well, pressured possibly by heat or gas pockets. He said that more testing is required. Another well will be drilled into the aquifer one mile away, and pump tests are required to confirm these estimates. One well will be flowed, and drawdown will be measured on the other well.

Although the county came under some criticism for the bold expenditure of funds, Springfield said that the exploration was not a shot in the dark. “Hydrologists provided a very educated guess that there is a lot of water down there. It is an appropriate function of local government to supply water to residents,” Springfield said, adding that most desalination projects are government-funded. They are looking into a desalination plant and General Electric water treatment technology.

If these water supplies are confirmed, Recorp Partners will accelerate its planning process. If not, they will have to start looking into water transfers. As per the agreement, Rio West will get the first eighteen thousand acre feet. Any supplies in excess of that will be “gravy” available to the rest of Sandoval County, easing the demand for water rights from the surrounding area. Springfield said that water from such depths may be unappropriated and not under the jurisdiction of the Office of the State Engineer (OSE). He stressed that the county has been working with the OSE in “the most positive way possible.”

Does this mean Sandoval County will be home to the next Phoenix? Commissioner Jack Thomas said of the discovery, “I think it’s just tremendous. It’s the best thing that’s happened around here in twenty-five years and it benefits the entire area. Water supply is the absolute centerpiece of the puzzle [in sustainable growth]. Growth is not necessarily a good thing, but working people keep moving here because it’s affordable and there are jobs. Available water will help keep it that way. If we have guaranteed water for one hundred years, I’m convinced that new technology will find new ways to supply water in the future.”

Contact us for more information!

(972) 638-7053

Contact@LandPact.com