Ricardo Rubiano
Founder and Principal
ricardo@rubigroupcapital.com
Ricardo Rubiano has been involved in real estate development since 1996. Generations of his family have been in the business since 1908 when his great-grandfather Col. Eleuterio Reyna began installing both railroad and potable water lines to cities along the US-Mexico border. Reyna had served in Madero’s army against outlaw Pancho Villa and looked to create stability for his family by owning real estate. The idea of developing real estate never left Ricardo as both his grandfather and father continued in the development business. Five generations of his family have now stretched across the Rio Grande Valley. First key to success, Rubiano is from here.
Born in Texas and an alum of the United States Naval Academy and Texas A&M University, Ricardo grew up on both sides of the US-Mexican border understanding the benefits and pitfalls of the cross-cultural traffic. In 1995, after service in the United States Marine Corps, a chance transaction brought him back to his roots and Rubiano has been involved in real estate development ever since.
His first projects were ambitious, single-family developments in excess of 100 acres each. Water’s Edge in Harlingen and Pecan Grove in Weslaco both built from 1999 to 2004 stand today as proof of design yielding value. Baseball fields, soccer fields, jogging trails and parks are surrounded by family homes that enjoy these features daily. Ricardo personally designed these developments, built them from the ground up and maintained them until handing them over the respective HOAs. Today he lives on 30 acres at Water’s Edge as a testament to the quality of the product he delivers surrounded by his clients.
During the recession of 2006-2010, Rubiano focused on buying and selling distressed assets from banks and private lenders like the Bank of America tower in Harlingen TX, 10,000-15,000 SF retail centers and 80/100-unit multi-family projects in the Rio Grande Valley. In 2009, he began purchasing distressed development tracts from local banks. These ranged in size from 2 acres to 25 acres with a focus on traffic signal intersections, Grocer/Walmart-shadowed and high levels of vehicular traffic and all purchased below 35% of current appraised values.
Today, Rubiano owns and or has developed Class-A development projects in Brownsville, Weslaco, San Juan, Harlingen, Pharr, Edinburg and Laredo with tenants such as Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, Sprint, AT&T, Dunkin Donuts, McAlister’s Deli, The Cash Store, Just-a-Cut, T Mobile, and Panda Express to name a few. Rubiano also owns a 320-unit apartment complex development in Weslaco TX with two other multi-family developments in Pharr (168 units) and Edinburg (275 units) on the drawing board.
Twenty-three years of experience culminates into what is the premier real estate development company based in the Rio Grande Valley with the mission statement of “Building a better Valley.”