At the Aldea del Rey subdivision in Corona de Tucson, finished town houses with granite countertops and high-end appliances sit empty with their doors wide open to the world.
Down the street, unfinished town houses that are now overgrown with weeds are crumbling away. Their cinder-block walls have been pushed over by the wind as rebar juts out in every direction.
The two scenes give Aldea del Rey, set along a golf course south of Interstate 10 off Houghton Road, a tattered eeriness. It's a suburban ghost town plagued by errant golf balls.
"For a while, there was only one (other) person in the neighborhood," said William Smith, who has rented in Aldea del Rey for the last two years. "It's quiet. That's the upside."
Pima County is filled with unfinished developments. The state's Real Estate Department lists 24 projects in the greater Tucson area where the developer is either in "financial trouble" or bankruptcy.
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These projects range from the sprawling Saguaro Springs development in Marana — where hundreds of acres were bladed and graded, but only three model homes were built — to smaller custom developments like the Enclaves at Gates Pass that never took form. Both of those projects are now going to auction.
Unfinished developments pose a host of problems for residents and municipalities: The homes raise safety concerns and are magnets for vandals and squatters. Early buyers in these neighborhoods often have little recourse for shoddy construction, and those who bought at the market's peak now owe far more than their homes are worth.
"For the people who bought into these subdivisions, they are probably the ones getting worked over the most," said Jay Q. Butler, realty studies director at Arizona State University. "And yet they did nothing wrong."
Sahuarita is considering tearing down an unfinished custom home simply out of health and safety concerns, with Town Manager Jim Stahle saying unfinished construction can become a plague to cities. Lost in limbo
Aldea del Rey was supposed to be 95 lots along the Santa Rita Golf Course, but only 30 units were completed before builder Pathway Developments Inc. filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last year.
During the peak market, town houses sold there for roughly $300,000. They now go for $130,000.
"It's sort of bureaucratically stuck," said builder Michael F. Teufel. "Technically I am the owner (of any unsold lots and homes), and technically we are in default. And with that, it's really hard for the owner to do anything when the property is worth so much less than the debt."
Teufel has been in default for months, so one big mystery is why Bank of the West hasn't foreclosed on the properties. Until that happens, the development is stuck in limbo.
A trustee sale is scheduled for July 9. But two other previous trustee sales were postponed.
John Stafford, spokesman for Bank of the West, said it was unclear what has kept the bank from taking action.
"The lenders seem almost indifferent," said ASU's Butler, "even though they are supposed to be concerned."
Rob Hallberg, an agent with Long Realty who bought a home in Aldea del Rey in 2007 for $240,882, said he would like to see the bank clear the project off its books.
"The prices have gotten really low in the complex already, and I doubt that Bank of the West wants to continue to be a landowner," he said. "Prices are low enough that an investor or builder can come in and finish the complex."
While he waits for that to happen, Hallberg and other homeowners have formed an informal homeowners association to keep the neighborhood presentable for future buyers and investors. They've even put in a P.O. box.
Hallberg has a strong connection to the neighborhood. Not only did he buy in it — he rents his property at a loss — but he sold homes there at the peak of the market and continues to sell homes there now.
One of his listings is for $130,000, significantly less than when he bought.
Has he ever considered walking away from his own home there?
"I don't want to have anything bad on my credit, and I am going to meet the obligation that I originally set up for the property," he said. "Is it ever going to come back to that price? I think, eventually." Up for auction
Just over Rattlesnake Pass in Marana on the western slope of the Tucson Mountains is Saguaro Springs.
Plans once called for 2,400 homes there, but all that stands now are three model homes and hundreds of dirt lots. The road into the development is lined with dead palm trees, and the model homes are now boarded up and gutted.
Saguaro Springs' developer, California-based Empire Land LLC, filed for bankruptcy last year. Since then, the project's other developer, KB Home, has been shopping the land.
The site, which carries a $20 million note, is now up for auction, and demolition permits have been issued for the three model homes.
"In the case of Saguaro Springs, you have three model homes out there that have been trashed," Marana Town Manager Gilbert Davidson said. "We have large tracts of land that have been cleared, and we now have tumbleweeds that are rolling across several hundred acres. We have to somehow get that all removed just because of fire danger."
But an even bigger challenge Saguaro Springs poses is unfinished infrastructure that may very well have to be redone: Roads are cracking, and the sewer system has not been approved.
Other developments in Marana are halfway completed with finished homes sitting next to empty lots. But Davidson and Town Planning Director Kevin Kish said those projects don't concern them nearly as much as Saguaro Springs because the infrastructure is strong, there are some residents living there, and the developments are much smaller than Saguaro Springs.
"Those will fill in," Kish said. "A builder will come in and provide a product that the market will want." Taking action
Although Sahuarita hasn't been hit with as many unfinished developments as other areas, its Town Council has set its sights on two unfinished custom homes out of concerns they may be used by squatters.
Code regulations let the town tear down unfinished structures if building permits have been expired for more than two years, said Andy Kelley, Sahuarita's building official and fire marshal.
Demolition is being considered for a house on the outskirts of town that has no doors, Councilman Phil Conklin said.
A second unfinished house is in the middle of Rancho Sahuarita, the 4,200-home master-planned community that has more than half of the town's population.
Part of a 16-lot custom-home development on the west bank of Sahuarita Lake called Haciendas del Lago, only the exterior framing and the roof were installed before Prescott-based builder Townsend Homes went bankrupt. "It's been there, framed, for the last several years," Kelley said.
Rather than push to tear it down, though, the council passed a measure to cut $2,500 off the cost of a permit to complete enough work on the house to make it livable, Kelley said.
Townsend's other Rancho Sahuarita project, the 89-lot Estancia del Corazon, was bladed but no homes were built. Some of the vacant land soon will go to a trustee sale.
The prospect of vacant houses turning into havens for vandals or squatters has jurisdictions keeping a close watch.
"We know there are more and more people going homeless," Pima County building official Yves Khawam said. "It could be logical to think some of these folks will end up living in abandoned structures."
Sahuarita building inspectors have reported seeing a sleeping bag inside an abandoned home with an unsecured garage door in Rancho Sahuarita, Kelley said.
The town plans an aggressive approach to avoid having unfinished or foreclosed and abandoned homes become "attractive nuisances," Stahle said.
"Most jurisdictions have a ton of them," he said. "In some cities, it's a plague."
Developers in trouble
The Arizona Department of Real Estate tracks developers and home builders who are in financial trouble. Here is its list of developers in the Tucson area; the list can also be found at: www.re.state.az.us
Developer Developments Status
Americabuilt Communities Corazon del Pueblo, Mission Ridge, New Dawn Estates, Chapter 11
Rancho Santa Fe,Rancho Valencia, Dan Marcos Terrace,
Vactor Ranch, Vactor Ranch II, Vail Vista Estates, New Dawn Estates
Empire Land Saguaro Springs Chapter 7 and trustee sale
Pathway Developments Placita Escondida, Stone Crossing Chapter 7
Santa Rita Townhomes Aldea del Rey Trustee Sale
(A division of Pathway)
River Elks River Walk Chapter 7
Sierra Pacific Homes Countryside Manor, Sonoran Ranch Estates II, Chapter 11
Valle Hermoso,Sonoita Ranch
West Speedway Partners Enclaves at Gates Pass Chapter 11 and trustee sale
Tucson Copper Hill Estates Copper Hill Estates Chapter 11
Ducati Homes La Joya Verde II, Valley Lane Townhomes Mechanic's liens
Harvest Development Overton Ridge Estates Trustee sale
Note: Townsend Construction, which has projects Haciendas del Lago and Estancia del Corazon, has filed for Chapter 7 but is not yet on the state's list.