Behold! The first inkling of Albuquerque, New Mexico’s Villa Serena. In this 1968 announcement, we discover that the City Planning Commission has granted approval for 122 dwelling units in Four Hills. The 15.1-acre plan for Wagon Train SE was submitted by Four Hills Development Corp. agent, Roger Cox and Associates.

The announcement was published in an April 1968 Albuquerque Tribune, a now-defunct newspaper, and the piece itself listed similar announcements for City Planning Commission decisions all over the valley.

The original highlight reads:

“The City Planning Commission has approved SU-1 zoning (special use for a planned residential development) for 15.q acres of land in Four Hills Village.

The land on Wagon Train Drive SE will be the future site of apartments, condominiums, and townhouses.

The plan, submitted to Planning Commissioners by Roger Cox and Associates, calls for 122 dwelling units. Roger Cox and Associates is the agent for Four Hills Development Corp.”

This future site of apartments, condominiums, and townhouses the article mentions is known today as Villa Serena, one of the most instagrammable Spanish-influenced complexes in Albuquerque. There have been many project ideas that came about for Four Hills Village during the mid and late sixties but not all of them came to fruition. Villa Serena is a dream come to reality and still provides gorgeous luxury residences in the 2020s.