Inside Mandarina: The 455-Acre Marana Master Plan Three National Builders Are Quietly Reshaping at Tangerine and I-10

Drive north on Interstate 10 out of Tucson, take the Tangerine Road exit, and the 455-acre Mandarina master plan opens on the east side of the freeway between Tangerine and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. As of May 14, 2026, Mandarina is one of the most active new-construction footprints in the Tucson metro: Bela Flor Communities holds the master plan, the Town of Marana has entitled the project for up to 2,500 residential units across single-family detached, single-family attached, and multifamily product, and three national homebuilders — Meritage Homes (266 platted lots across Signature and Premier series), KB Home (182 lots across Mandarina Reserve and Mandarina Horizon), and Lennar (160 lots) — are simultaneously building inside the same footprint. A separate Mandarina South master plan adds up to 1,500 more units on adjacent acreage. Here is a fully sourced May 14, 2026 walk-through for relocation buyers evaluating Marana against other Sun Belt destinations, Oro Valley and northwest Tucson move-up shoppers comparing communities, and Tucson residents trying to map where new inventory is actually arriving.