The Esplanade in Rio Rancho, NM

The Esplanade is an age-restricted community in Rio Rancho, set along Country Club Drive SE and Esplanade Circle SE. Building began in 1979: single-level attached homes, most with a covered patio, a private courtyard and an attached two-car garage. Residency is limited to households including someone 55 or older. There is no clubhouse. A landscaped walking path serves as the shared amenity, and the homeowners association covers common-area maintenance, landscaping and exterior lighting. The closed Club Rio Rancho golf course sits just up Country Club Drive, its 250 acres the subject of a redevelopment plan that has been before the city since 2025.

The land up the road has sat idle since the golf course shut down in 2016. Its clubhouse burned in 2019, and the property changed hands in 2022. The master plan filed for the site, Chamisa Hills, would put more than 300 residential units, a town center with retail and restaurants, an 11-acre park and roughly 62 acres of open space threaded with walking trails on the old fairways, plus a business park along High Resort Boulevard. A city board recommended approval in spring 2025; the governing body has postponed a vote more than once since.

In place of a clubhouse, the association keeps an activity director on hand for residents.