The Noriega family has acquired a considerable amount of real estate and homes, in Tucson, Arizona over the years. This post will examine the history and development of the Noriega family's real estate holdings on Mockingbird Lane. It will also explore whether church funds, resources or connections played a role in the acquisition and development of these properties.
Summary Facts:
- The Noriega family currently owns 8 large properties (approximately 28.68 acres) on West Mockingbird Lane (shown above and listed below).
- Isaac Noriega has split these properties twice into smaller parcels with the assistance of David Koss, a church member who was a trustee, notary public, and City of Tucson Real Estate Property Manager at the time of the 2009 parcel split.
- Church general contractors and "volunteer" church labor were allegedly used to construct homes on these properties. Some contractors reportedly claim that Isaac Noriega did not pay the full agreed cost and justified this by citing his position as pastor.
- There is an unspoken church rule that church members are not allowed to go down Mockingbird Lane without permission from Pastor Isaac Noriega. Former church member residents living there stated that they were only allowed to invite close relatives of Isaac Noriega (such as Isaac's brother, Danny Noriega) to visit. Is it possible that this is due to Isaac not wanting the hard working church members to see the wealth his family has amassed?
- There were conflicting reasons/narratives as to why these parcel splits were needed. One example is Isaac Noriega using his wife Lucy Noriega's medical condition as justification (see his letter below).
- The Noriega family has been able to acquire and develop real estate over time, including large, custom luxury homes for their families. It appears they may have benefited from using church resources, the church's tax-exempt status, volunteer labor from the church, and assistance from trustees such as Dave Koss, Mike Samaniego, and Michael Ramirez etc. in order to further their own financial gain.
Top left to right: Stephen Daniel, Staceey Tiffany, Lucinda Clementina.
Bottom left to right: Isaac Noriega, Lucy Noriega, Matthew Noriega.
Noriega Estate on Mockingbird Lane
Parcel 119-31-022L: 3525 W Mockingbird Ln, Tucson, AZ 85713, owned by Isaac & Lucinda Jacques (Noriega)
Parcel 119-31-022P: 3491 W Mockingbird Ln, Tucson, AZ 85713, owned by Tabernaculo Emanuel & Matthew Noriega
Parcel 119-31-0480: 3345 W Mockingbird Ln, Tucson, AZ, owned by Matthew Jonah & Sharon Ann Noriega
Parcel 119-31-0490: 3333 W Mockingbird Ln, Tucson, AZ 85713, owned by Joseph Israel and Staceey Tiffany Torres (Noriega)
Parcel 119-31-0500: 3311 W Mockingbird Ln, Tucson, AZ 85713, owned by Matthew Jonah and Sharon Ann Noriega
Parcel 119-31-022R: 3301 W Mockingbird Ln, Tucson, AZ 85713, owned by Stephen Daniel and Matthew Noriego (yes, that is an actual typo in the public record). Also, Stephen was previously excommunicated and then returned years later. Due to this, it is possible that he is not fully trusted by his father Isaac Noriega, which may be why Matthew Noriega co-owns this property.
Parcel 119-31-018A: 3163 W Mockingbird Ln, Tucson, AZ 85713, owned by Isaac and Matthew Jonah Noriega
Parcel 119-31-018B: 3145 W Mockingbird Ln, Tucson, Az 85713, owned by Isaac and Mathew Jonah Noriega (currently appears to be undeveloped land)
1992 Original Purchase - 3491 W Mockingbird Lane
On October 2nd, 1992, Pastor Isaac Noriega purchased 17.59 acres on Mockingbird Lane, in Tucson AZ for $150,000. The address of this parcel of land is 3491 W Mockingbird Lane. In it's original legal description, it was referred to as Parcel 119-31-022N. After multiple parcel splitting efforts, it is now referred to as Parcel 119-31-022P. Note: this property is Suburban Ranch (SR) Zoned.
Isaac built his first home on this property in 1994 using church "volunteer" labor. Former church members and trustees built this home at a very low cost. Once this home was built, Isaac sold his previous home at 5536 S. Forrest Avenue, Tucson AZ, 851346 to church member Reymundo (Rey) and Yolanda Aguirre on December 6, 1994 for $160,000.
The pictures at this Zillow link and also below, show 3491 W Mockingbird Lane, a large house with 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, totaling 5,599 square feet. It is obvious that Isaac and his family have financially benefited from the church's tithing income and "volunteer" labor. It is worth noting the wrought iron bars and rolling metal shutters across all of the windows and security features of the overall home. Former contractors that have worked on the Noriega family homes have mentioned the existence of a safe room/panic room as well.
As previously mentioned in the Church Real Estate blog post, the large house at 3491 W Mockingbird Lane was sold to Samuel and Sandra Rojas on May 9, 2011, who lived there for several years before attempting to sell the property. This attempted sale and the posting of the property on Zillow is believed to have angered Isaac Noriega, who directed the church to repurchase the property on March 31, 2018, with a 50/50 split ownership between the Tabernaculo Emanuel church and Matthew Jonah Noriega. This property is currently tax-exempt as documented in Church Real Estate blog post. Isaac recently claimed that he used his own money for this purchase, however, the affidavit shows that the purchase was made by the church, so it would be logical to assume that it was purchased with church funds. Current church members have commented on this site that the property is used to house visiting ministers. However, it is worth noting that Isaac Noriega has cut ties with many message ministers and churches that Golden Dawn Tabernacle used to fellowship with, so there may not be many visiting, if any, ministers who use this property.
1996 Property Parcel Split - 3491 W Mockingbird Lane
As Isaac's family grew, he decided to parcel split the 17.59 acres so that he could build more homes on this land. In 1996, he filed petition C10-96-21 to split the property into 5 parcels. This request was initially rejected so Isaac appealed (appeal #A-96-003) and and was eventually able to get it split but only into a total of 4 parcels (from original Parcel 119-31-022N, into Parcels 119-31-022P, 119-31-022L, 119-31-022Q, and 119-31-022R) as shown on the plat map below. Digitized city public record archives during this time are limited, so the 1996 rezoning documentation and timeline is based on newspaper archives we were able to obtain.
Plat Map of Parcel 119-31-022N split into four parcels (-022P, -022L, -022Q, -022R)Newspaper clipping of notification of Isaac Noriega's parcel split application C10-96-21, on March 11, 1996:
Newspaper clipping of notification of Isaac Noriega's Appeal of Board of Adjustment's Decision (#A-96-003), dated June 13, 1996:
2009 Parcel Split - 3333 W Mockingbird Lane
As Isaac's family continued to grow even further, he decided to split his properties again. Isaac and his son Matthew Noriega worked to parcel split 3333 W Mockingbird Lane, which was Parcel 119-31-022Q. The existing 10 acre parcel was split into three 3.3 acre parcels (original parcel 119-310022Q split into parcels 119-31-0480, 119-31-0490, 119-31-0500. This split was requested via petition C10-09-15. The parcel split effort began in 2008 but was not approved until September 30, 2009 due to Tucson Land Use Code requirements for all weather access to subdivisions which this property would not meet if it was split.
After extensive research and recommendation from the City of Tucson Development Services Department, the Minor Subdivision Plat process was followed, and variances were submitted, reviewed and granted by the City of Tucson Board of Adjustment for the following:
1) Allow Mockingbird Lane to remain unpaved
2) Eliminate the all weather crossing requirement at the Enchanted Hills Wash.
The Noriega family had to obtain various approvals and concurrences in order to complete the parcel split of properties on Mockingbird Lane in Tucson, Arizona. These approvals were obtained from the Tucson Fire Department, Tucson Water, Tucson Environmental Services, and Pima County Department of Environmental Quality, and the Noriega family also had to meet with affected neighbors to obtain their concurrence. Dave Koss, a former City of Tucson employee who worked as a Real Estate Property Manager for the city and was also a trustee (he since stepped down due to illness) and notary public for the church, played a key role in executing the parcel split and obtaining consensus from all stakeholders. Dave Koss used his position and influence as an employee of the city to ensure this parcel split was successful, and as a result performed a crucial role in obtaining consensus from all of these stakeholders as shown in the the public records below. It is worth asking: Was there a conflict of interest between church member Dave Koss and the City of Tucson? If so, was there a conflict of interest disclosure? The City of Tucson Ethics and Conflict of Interest Policy can be viewed here. Dave Koss appeared to be acting in the best interests of his pastor, Isaac Noriega, in the position as a Church Trustee, while being employed by the City of Tucson. While that in itself is not necessarily a conflict of interest, even the appearance of a conflict of interest is not allowed by the aforementioned policy. Usually in cases of potential conflict of interest, the City Attorney is responsible for reviewing the facts to determine whether there is a conflict. Was that review performed for this project?
Conflicting Narrative for the Parcel Split:
The were some conflicting narratives/ reasons given as to why the parcel split was being pursued. In the original project description that was submitted, the rationale for the split was to develop additional residences on the property for the growing family. Also, that Isaac Noriega wanted to build a smaller residence on one of the split parcels. See original project description below.
Original Project Description:
When the Board of Adjustment stakeholders did not seem to be initially amenable to the parcel split, Isaac Noriega leveraged his wife's medical conditions as the sole justification for the parcel split.
Isaac Noriega's letter to the City of Tucson Board of Adjustment:
Isaac and Matthew had their neighboring family and the church write letters of support for the parcel split, citing the theme of Lucy Noriega's illness as the critical need for this parcel split.
Matthew Noriega's letter to the City of Tucson Board of Adjustment:
Isaac Jacques' letter to the City of Tucson Board of Adjustment:
Samuel Mike Samaniego's Letter (on behalf of the church's ownership of 3491 W Mockingbird Lane) to the City of Tucson Board of Adjustment:
What is interesting about these letters and Lucy Noriega's critical medical need is that Isaac and Lucy didn't own or live on any of the land that was parcel split for very long. According to Lucy Noriega's death certificate, her primary residence was at 3163 W Mockingbird Lane, a different property that was purchased after the parcel split. After the parcel split, Isaac Noriega transferred ownership of the properties to his family. Matthew and Staceey Noriega and their spouses are the current owners at this time. These properties all had large, luxury, custom houses built on them. Note: the ownership of these properties has been transferred multiple times between various members of the Noriega family, a history that may be explored in a future blog post.
The construction of large custom homes on all of the divided parcels suggests that the main motivation for the parcel split may have been to provide more housing for Isaac Noriega's children and grandchildren (e.g. it is possible that Isaac's grandchild Abel Jacques and his wife Asenath Miramontez may be living in one of the homes). This raises questions about the validity of Isaac's assertion that the split was necessary solely for Lucy Noriega's critical medical needs. This potentially conflicting information calls into question the true purpose of the parcel split.
Below is the pertinent documentation for this parcel split (C10-09-15) and is also located as public record here:
Parcel Split and Variance Application:
Parcel Split Map:
Variance Application Exhibits:
Board of Adjustment Approval:
Additional Mockingbird Lane Property Purchases
Parcel 119-31-018A: 3163 W Mockingbird Lane was purchased on May 28, 2014 for $110,000 by Isaac, Lucy and Mathew Noriega. A custom home was then built on this 5.6 acre property which is Isaac Noriega's current primary residence.
The construction and permit records for this property can be found here.
Parcel 119-31-018B: 3145 W Mockingbird Lane was purchased on March 26, 2021 for $90,000 by Isaac and Matthew Noriega.
The construction and permit records for this 5.5 acre property can be found here. It appears that Isaac's son in law Joseph Israel Torres (owner of Keystone Masonry) is beginning the application process to develop a new custom home on this property as recently as December 02, 2022.
Summary
The purpose of this post is to research the Noriega family real estate history on Mockingbird Lane, using publicly available records, and publish this research and findings in a comprehensive manner. These research findings raise questions about the potential use of church funds and resources, the potential conflict of interest between city employees and church members, and the manipulation that may have been used for personal gain. The research history published in this post is backed by public records and the intent is to be as transparent as possible. We will continue to track and publish any noteworthy, publicly available Noriega family real estate developments.
Below are some of the public record resources used for this blog post:
Pima County Recorder Public Records: https://www.recorder.pima.gov/PublicServices/PublicSearch
Pima County Assesor's Office: https://www.asr.pima.gov
City of Tucson PDSD Property Research Online: https://pro.tucsonaz.gov
Pima County Geographic Information Systems: https://gis.pima.gov/maps/landbase/parsrch.htm
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Archived Comments#
10 comment(s) imported from the original site:
Anonymous — December 30, 2022#
Wow! you must really hate Isaac. the people can care less what he does with his money. any man would help his families. what about his hard working children? do they do anything? what about the millions of dollars of buildings the church is building and all the houses of members that have been paid off? some people have way too much time in their hands trying to influence people who can care less about dumb stuff like this. we see it as the blessing of God. luxury homes? haha have you seen those homes?
GDT Research — December 30, 2022#
Thank you for your comment and feedback. We simply want to present the comprehensive facts for awareness and transparency. What you do with that information is up to you. You are right that some people may not care about this research content and that is perfectly fine. We thank you for caring enough to post a comment on here with your feedback.
One of our upcoming posts is going to cover church finances and how the church has been buying out mortgages for certain church members as well as how they making loans to certain church members.
Let us know if you have any other research suggestions.
-GDT Research Team
Filipe Acevedo — January 3, 2023#
It’s amazing how much time some people have in their hands! This is a lot of work to prove absolutely nothing. People in the church know exactly why they are there and what ISaac owns or does, they are happy. The people have been blessed under the ministry. Some good upcoming topics would be how ******** ******’s dad took advantage of him and messed up his credit (I’m sure there’s a long paper trail on that you can post), or how ****** hurt her own dad badly two times. or maybe how ****** committed fraud, or ***** stealing. or maybe some of the boys that give you info that caused the warnings of isaac about the internet because they introduced innocent people to pornography. THose would be interesting upcoming articles.
#****isaacnoreiga — January 3, 2023#
are you one of the cult leaders"hard working" kids?
Church Finances - Tithings, Offerings & Enforcement - Golden Dawn Tabernacle Church Research — January 14, 2023#
[…] Noriega Family Properties – Mockingbird Estates […]
Anonymous — January 14, 2023#
Por eso su familia está con el por todos el dinero que tiene y les da … Quítale el dinero y se queda solo… Podemos ver qué ni su familia lo quiere ..
The truth will set you free — January 15, 2023#
“millions of dollars of buildings the church is building” How did they acquire the millions? Who is the chuch? The former members all know that Isaac cohersed many people into volunteering their time into helping build the real estate property on Los Reales Road and Elvado Road. I remember Isaac from the pulpit once state that those who did not help build the elderly homes or help with renovations to the buildings where not of God. That prompted all the men from the congregation to attend and “help”. Otherwise they were deemed as unholy. That is cohersion.
Anyone can see the huge house built on top of the hill on Mockingnbird Lane for miles away. I believe it’s close to 6k livable area, that’s luxury
Anonymous — June 3, 2023#
Actually I am the person that lead Isaac to buy that property..I designed and built that 5000 sq ft house .. I did the original lot splits for that property.. I also built two additional houses for him.. I also negotiated the for the property next to the house on 3491 mockingbird lane.. I was the head trustee for many years.. I met Isaac when I was 24 yrs old
David Alcantar — December 13, 2023#
Hi everyone..I was the one that showed Isaac this property…Isaac was looking for a place to build a home and we looked around for like year..He had certain criteria that he was looking for…one of them being that it had to have a paved road. After spending like a year looking..I told him I knew of a place that was really nice..close to the church but did not have a paved road.I showed him the place..he liked it ..I had been there before and looking around there was a sign that had fallen to the ground…it was a for sale sign. .The Hood family has originally bought a lot land in that area…his daughter now had possession of the property which was a little over 17 acres..I negotiated the deal..and designed and built the big house.. I also did the original lot splits..
The Truth — March 5, 2024#
Imagine spending your life persecuting and accusing people falsely just to find out when you die you’ll be held accountable by God himself, unable to hide and being told “Depart from Me, you who work iniquity”. You know in your heart that this is not a cult. Yet you spend hours upon hours, days and days, trying to hurt people who never hurt you. This is what some people do with their conviction from God and they have to blame others and play the victim instead of being responsible for their actions. I really hope you all come to your senses while there is time. May God have mercy on you