Mesa del Sol developer aims to pull out

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The master developer of the massive Mesa del Sol development in Albuquerque has put its share of the land up for sale hoping to pull out of the development.

A person representing Forest City Enterprises has put its 3,000 acres up for sale saying its company is looking for focus on rental properties and retail centers instead of land development.

Forest City Enterprises was a part of the Mesa del Sol development south of the Albuquerque Sunport since early on. The company came to Albuquerque in 2002 and helped create the vision for the master development.

The vision is to have 37,000 homes plus businesses and parks.

Right now 30 homes are under construction there, and 20 more are being designed.

City of Albuquerque Economic Development Director John Garcia says the sale of the land will not compromise the development.

"The development stays intact, the project stays intact," he said.  "The agreements are in place, and if they chose to sell their assets, then they sell them with the contracts in place," says Garcia

The city says it's not worried about the development saying Forest City has been a good partner to this point, and they don't see that changing now.

A representative from Forest City Enterprises says their 3,000 acres will continue to be developed while the land is up for sale. So far they have had very few interested buyers.