rio rancho project secures zoning go-ahead

A new single-family housing development may be going up in northwest Rio Rancho just to the west of the intersection of Blueberry Drive NE and 19th Avenue NE.

The project will be built on 1.4 acres of currently undeveloped land in the city’s North Hills and will include nine separate housing units.

The site is surrounded by single-family residential structures, mostly built in the last two decades, with the average price of a home as of July going for around $130,000.

Developer of the project is the Rio Rancho-based AMREP Southwest, Inc. That company has a long record of residential development in New Mexico, and recently completed the Eldorado at Santa Fe, a community of around 2,650 homes.

Although the project has been opposed by some residents of the North Hills area, many of whom expressed concerns over increased traffic in the area, it has secured a rezoning approval from members of the Rio Rancho Governing Body.

That rezoning will allow for the construction of medium-density, single-family housing.

Involved in Rio Rancho real estate for decades, AMREP, originally known as the American Realty and Petroleum Corporation, has for years been the largest developer of residential real estate in the region.

By Garry Boulard

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