By Bill Coates | Pinal Central
MARICOPA — Housing trends in Maricopa are built on the foundation laid by Mike Ingram’s El Dorado Holdings. Ingram is El Dorado’s founder and chairman.
Back in the 1980s, he had the idea for a master-planned community, Rancho El Dorado. He started with the purchase of the 3,000-acre El Dorado Ranch, once owned by John Wayne.
With El Dorado Holdings, Ingram spent the next 15 years or so creating the infrastructure needed for a new community. Water, sewer, electricity and transportation. Global Water delivered water. A special district provided electric service. State Route 347 was widened to four lanes.
