Summerlin is a 22,500 acres planned community under development by The Howard Hughes Corporation in the Las Vegas metropolitan area of Nevada near the Spring Mountains and Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Summerlin, named for Howard Hughes’ grandmother, Jean Amelia Summerlin, ranked as the country’s best-selling master-planned community for more than a decade by Robert Charles Lesser & Co. and continues to rank among the top ten best-selling communities in the country some 19 years after development first began. The community includes a variety of land uses, including: residential, commercial, recreational, educational, medical, open space, and cultural. As of January 2009, Summerlin's population was more than 100,000.
In the mid 1950s Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. purchased 25,000 acres in Southern Nevada near Las Vegas. After Hughes died in 1976, Summa Corporation was organized to oversee Hughes’ vast business empire and land holdings, including the large parcel of Southern Nevada desert that is today known as Summerlin.
In 1988, Summa Corporation exchanged more than 5,000 acres of land adjoining Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area for 3,000 acres of land located south of Summerlin. This landmark land exchange was facilitated by The Nature Conservancy and critically acclaimed by the environmental community. It created a buffer zone to protect Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area from future development.
Summa Corporation began construction of Summerlin in 1990 but initiated planning and infrastructure construction – including Summerlin Parkway – in the late 1980s.
In 2002, Summa, known by now as The Howard Hughes Corporation, enacted a second exchange with the Bureau of Land Management, giving more than 1,000 acres of environmentally sensitive land adjacent to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area for 900 acres more suitable for development south of Summerlin.
Summerlin is currently home to more than 100 neighborhood and village parks, more than 150 completed miles of the Summerlin Trail System, nine golf courses – including Nevada’s only two Tournament Players Club courses, the TPC at Summerlin and the TPC Las Vegas, more than a dozen houses of worship, shopping centers, medical and cultural facilities, business parks and 25 public and private schools.
The community is unfolding in villages and today, 19 of 30 total villages are complete or are under development.
Summerlin offers homes in a variety of styles and prices to create a true multi-generational community. As of January 2009, Summerlin has approximately 9,000 acres of its 25,000 acres yet to develop.
Summerlin is recognized as a standard-setting master-planned community and has a long list of national and local awards to its credit. These include the American Trails Developer Award, 2008; Best Master-Planned Community Award, Best of Nevada Real Estate Awards, 2007; New Community of the Year, Awards for Excellence, Urban Land Institute, 2002; National Landmark for Outstanding Landscape Architecture, American Society of Landscape Architects, 1999; and Best New Town Land Plan Award, Pacific Coast Builders Conference, 1993.
The Summerlin Trail System is currently more than 150 miles and connects neighborhoods to various amenities throughout the community. Upon completion, the trail system will be more than 200 miles long and will connect to more than 2,000 miles of regional trails, making it one of the most comprehensive and efficient trail systems in the southwest.
The Summerlin Trail System includes five types of planned trails: street-side, village, bike, regional and natural.
Summerlin lies within both an incorporated municipality and unincorporated area. The area north of Charleston Boulevard is within the city of Las Vegas, while property south of Charleston Boulevard is located within unincorporated Clark County. As a planned community, Summerlin is managed by three major master associations (Summerlin North, Summerlin South and Summerlin West). The county portion is generally a part of Summerlin South. The northern portion, east of the 215 beltway, is mostly Summerlin North. The area west of the 215 beltway is Summerlin West. Many individual neighborhoods also have their own subdivision homeowners associations.
Summerlin is developed in villages. Each village features different amenities and residential offerings. Summerlin Centre is the community’s most dynamic village under development as Summerlin’s urban core.
Summerlin has two age-restricted communities, including Sun City Summerlin and Siena. Both have their own associations and are not part of the master association.
