Master planned community to bring thousands of homes to offset Carlsbad's housing shortage

About 1,200 acres of desert and scrubland in southern Carlsbad could become essential in addressing the city’s lack of housing.

The area off National Parks Highway across the road from the Cavern City Air Terminal was the site of a master-planned community designed to host an estimated population of 13,000 people, including homes, restaurants and retail.

Carlston Ranch was intended to capitalize on Carlsbad’s boom in growth and subsequent need for workers and places to house them, said owner Cheryl Carlson. She lives in Phoenix and bought the property in Carlsbad in 2011 with her late husband Donald Carlson, announcing the project June 5 at a ground-breaking ceremony at the site.

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Donald Carlson who died April 9, ran a watch company Inventory Adjusters in Phoenix with his wife and 50 employees at the time of the sale, she said, but wanted something more.

Donald Carlson also traded jewelry and heard form a fellow trader that the land a state away in New Mexico’s rural southeast corner was up for sale. Carlson said her husband jumped at the opportunity and would be proud to see his vision coming to life about 13 years later.

“He said ‘We’re buying land in Carlsbad,’” Carlson said in an interview with the Carlsbad Current-Argus. “I said ‘Okay.’ My husband was always looking for something new.”

The project would first see a road and additional infrastructure added to the property, and then 2,600 housing units installed. Gary Lane, a principal at LBG Development, which is assisting with the design of the community, said home prices will vary based on the developer, but that the development will target middle-income housing price points affordable for “the working man,” he said, like police officers or teachers.

Lane said the infrastructure of the community will be built by September, with the homes going in 12 to 18 month after that. He estimated the entire project will become operational within two years.

It is zoned for residential, commercial and entertainment uses, Lane said, and could even include local schools and police and fire stations in the future, pending local government decisions.

“It’s going to be a new section of the city,” he said. “We want to help alleviate the city’s housing problem with affordable homes.”

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The property was annexed into the City of Carlsbad in 2018, records show, bordered by National Parks Highway to the west and Derrick Road to the north. It already includes a training center occupied by Coterra Energy and will also include additional industrial development to attract workers.

When completed Carlston Ranch will be a “full-service” community, read a report by LBG Development, offering residents and others in Carlsbad opportunities for work, recreation and housing.

It is being developed in three phases, the first will consist of multiple subdivisions, business parks and industrial space totaling 363.9 acres along Derrick Road running south to Aviation Way, and on Molinar Road on the south end of the planned community.

The second phase will develop 278.4 acres on Aviation Way, running contiguous to National Parks Highway and south to Del Paso Road, including apartments, commercial and entertainment, a business park, office space, RV parks and industrial options.

The third phase will be 430.8 acres including residential, multi-family homes and a business park. In total, there will be 2,176 units for single families, 2,652 units for multi-family and 1,092 for “active adults,” the report read.

About 728.7 acres will be dedicated to residential developments, potentially for up to a total of 5,920 units, read the report.

Carlsbad Mayor Rick Lopez said the project would expand Carlsbad’s housing, retail and industrial developments, which he said must grow together.

“Carlsbad needs housing. We have to have the housing to have the workforce,” Lopez said. “I want more retail and industrial. Carlsbad is in great need of all of these. Carlston Ranch can offer it. We need to work on all of them together.”

Carlson said the housing demands of Carlsbad were already high when she and her husband bought the land almost 15 years ago. She said the project will help addressing a constraint on the city's growth Carlsbad struggled with for more than a decade.

"We've heard there's a lack of housing since 2011. We're still hearing that," she said. "We're just excited to to help the city grow, to be a part of that growth and to give the city something that will be beautiful."

Adrian Hedden can be reached at achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Master planned community hopes to offset Carlsbad's housing shortage