Dominium Expands Western Footprint

The properties came online with the help of the LIHTC program.

Dominium has expanded its western reach with the acquisition of Cholla Ranch, a 180-unit community in Buckeye, Ariz., and Villa Hermosa, a 288-unit asset in Albuquerque, N.M. The company has plans to resyndicate both affordable properties and further invest a total of $18.7 million in their expansion and renovation.  

The previous owner of the metro Phoenix property was Westlake Housing, according to Yardi Matrix data. Chola Ranch came online in 2001 with the help of the Section 42 low-income housing tax credit program. Initially, 124 units operated as affordable, while the other 56 units were market-rate. Since the acquisition, Dominium has decided to price the market-rate units at 70 percent of the area median income, therefore transforming the property into a fully affordable community.


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Cholla Ranch consists of 23 two-story buildings with two- and three-bedroom floorplans ranging from 1,000 to 1,250 square feet. Shared amenities include a fitness center, swimming pool and spa, as well as grade-level parking with 300 spots.

The 14-acre property is at 7400 S. Miller Road, some 36 miles from downtown Phoenix. The Buckeye train station is less than 1 mile away, as are a few retail options. Most eateries and supermarkets are up to 6 miles away, along Papago Freeway.

The purchase of Cholla Ranch brought Dominium’s Arizona portfolio to some 2,800 units. Just 14 miles from the Buckeye property, Dominium broke ground last year on two affordable properties totaling 657 units. That development was, at the time, the largest affordable project in the state.

Entering the New Mexico market

The purchase of Villa Hermosa marked Dominium’s entry into the New Mexico market. ColRich Multifamily was the asset’s previous owner, Yardi Matrix shows.

The community came online in 1999 under the 4 percent LIHTC program. The 14-acre property consists of 17 two-story buildings with one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments averaging 892 square feet. Common-area amenities comprise a fitness center, business center, clubhouse, swimming pool, playground and grade-level parking with 650 spaces.

The Albuquerque property is at 2600 Americare Court NW, just west of Highway 45, where most of the eateries and retail options are. The community is less than 1 mile from a Home Depot and a Walmart Supercenter; the Ladera Golf Course and El Rancho Atrisco Park are also nearby. Downtown Albuquerque is some 5 miles east.