Mesa del Sol's master plan called for development over a 40-year span that would cover 9,000 acres of the 12,900-acre site. The remaining 3,200 acres was proposed for parks and open space. The project expected to house 100,000 people, with a downtown area, 37,500 homes, of office space, for residential and supporting retail, for schools including university branches. The master plan also included a new interchange providing access to Interstate 25 that would be financed as part of the development.
History
Mesa del Sol was approved as part of a public-private partnership strategy with the New Mexico, Albuquerque and University of New Mexico. It has been in planning stages since the 1980s. In 2002, after an open bid process, the New Mexico StateLand Office selected Forest City Enterprises as the developer of Mesa del Sol. The project broke ground in 2005 with University Boulevard extended to the community. Forest City Enterprises and Covington Capital Partners were the initial developers. On March 17, 2011, Forest City announced that on March 28 it would break ground on the first phase of its residential development. Forest City plans to build 250 homes and models in the first phase, including infrastructure, and has selected four home builders including Rachel Matthew Homes, RayLee Homes, Paul Allen Homes and Pulte Homes. Builders estimate by early 2012, homes will be available for residents. The homes will range from in size and will cost between $100,000 and $300,000. In September 2015, a state audit showed a default judgement against approximately 2,700 acres of the undeveloped community and the land was placed in receivership. In December 2017, with approximately 250 homes having been built, the Mesa Del Sol owners appealed to Albuquerque's Environment Planning Commission for changes to the master plan that might encourage more home building.
Aperture Center
Architect and New Mexico native Antoine Predock designed the Aperture Center building which opened in late 2008 as the centerpiece of Mesa del Sol. It is a LEED-certified environmentally friendly building clad in a glass curtain wall inspired by the shape of bone cells. The $11 million town center building has retail shops and restaurants on the ground floor and offices above. In 2016, the Aperture Center was purchased from Mesa Town Center Building 1 LLC by SC3 International which would relocate its headquarters to the building. At that time, the other tenants were the offices of Mesa Del Sol and the University of New Mexico's New Energy and Industrial Technology and Development Organization. In 2018, Guzman Construction Solutions signed a lease for 17,000 square feet of space.
The television showBreaking Bad utilized Mesa del Sol for most of the show's desert shoots and many notable scenes. Albuquerque Studios, located in the Mesa del Sol development, served as headquarters for the Breaking Bad film crew, as well as for the films The Avengers, The Lone Ranger, and The Book of Eli. The coordinates at which Breaking Bad character Walter White buries his money in the season 5 episode "Buried" — — actually points to Albuquerque Studios in Mesa del Sol.
