Excerpt:

When development giants SunCal Cos. and Forest City Covington NM LLC tied up the Albuquerque metro’s two largest undeveloped parcels, many thought the future of real estate development was assured.

The recession, coupled with SunCal’s failure to win tax concessions from state legislators, has made that future uncertain for the two master-planned communities that have a near monopoly on the city’s future growth. Combined, they possess more than 66,000 acres where much of the area’s industrial growth can occur.

The March 20 defeat in the New Mexico Roundhouse of SunCal’s $408 million tax increment development district has some in the real estate community doubting its ability to ever break ground. Others say California-based SunCal is too big too fail and has the backing of a powerful hedge fund that will have the patience to hang in on a project that could take up to 50 years to complete.