Howard Hughes, the legendary aviator, casino mogul, and director, purchased 25,000 acres of land on the West side of the Las Vegas Valley in 1952. But it wasn’t until 14 years after his death that Howard Hughes’ heirs took the first steps to develop Summerlin.
Named after Jean Amelia Summerlin, Hughes’ paternal grandmother, Summerlin began to grow from the desert landscape in 1990.
Over the next three decades, Summerlin would continue to expand rapidly and consistently rank as the top-selling community in the nation.
About Summerlin
Summerlin is a mixed-use master-planned community located on the west side of the Las Vegas Valley.
Known as a lifestyle community, Summerlin is home to ten golf courses which includes two TPC courses — the only two in Nevada.
Summerlin is home to more than two dozen schools — public, private and charter schools — churches, cultural facilities, 300+ village and neighborhood parks spanning more than 200 miles, business parks, shopping centers, medical facilities and homes ranging from condominiums to multi-million dollar custom homes.
Originally developed by The Howard Hughes Corporation in 1990, Summerlin spans across 22,500 acres of the West end of the Las Vegas Valley.
A new style of community development
Historically, developers built communities hoping the city would develop parks and infrastructure nearby. But Summerlin’s lifestyle approach and planning involved interlinking 31 divisions, communities, and villages around 200 miles of walking trails and parks.
Instead, Summerlin charged a per-home assessment averaging $400 to $500 per year to finance the infrastructure and repay Las Vegas bonds. It worked, and developers still use special assessments today.
Summerlin is about lifestyle
Summerlin’s innovations didn’t stop at assessments, in fact, Summerlin reshaped the Homeowners Association to focus on the quality of life through events.
I have great memories of snow days at The Hills Park next to my middle school, Becker, and easter egg hunts on the baseball field at The Trails Park.
Dan Van Epp, the former CEO of Howard Hughes Corporation and a personal family friend, told the Review-Journal in 2015 “I think that actually spread across the country from us. It was something that was very much new with Summerlin.”
Summerlin quick facts:
Total population: 120,000+
Rooftops: 53,475+
Homebuilders:
- KB Homes
- Lennar
- Pulte Homes
- Richmond American Homes
- Shea Homes
- Taylor Morrison
- Toll Brothers
- Tri Pointe Homes
- Woodside Homes
The three regions of Summerlin
With over 50,000 homes and twenty more years of development ahead, it was crucial for Summerlin to divide into geographical sections. Summerlin North, Summerlin South, and Summerlin West are each a self-managed section of Summerlin.
About Summerlin North
Summerlin was born in Summerlin North. The first community was The Hills, followed by The Pueblo.
Summerlin North is all of the development North of the Summerlin Parkway and East of the 215 beltway extending as far as Buffalo Dr. Sun City Summerlin marks the end of the territory to the North.
Summerlin North has seven mixed-use villages with single and multi-family residential, neighborhood shopping centers, office parks, and recreational parks.
The seven villages that make up Summerlin North are:
- The Hills
- The Hills South
- The Pueblo
- The Trails
- The Crossing
- The Canyons
- The Arbors
The parks of Summerlin North are:
- The Hills Park
- The Pueblo Park
- The Trails Park and Pool
- The Crossings Park
- The Arbors Tennis and Play Park
- Arbors Paseo Park
- Cottonwood Canyon
- Tree Top Park
Sun City Summerlin is a 2,530-acre age-restricted community with 7,779 homes, three 18-hole, semi-private golf courses, four social and community centers, and various retail centers and churches.
About Summerlin South
Summerlin South encompasses nearly the entire 89135 zip code. South of Charleston and extending as far as Arby in the Southwest, Summerlin South was the second section of Summerlin to be developed.
Summerlin South includes ten villages, Red Rock Cainso, Downtown Summerlin, Las Vegas Ballpark, and the luxury guard-gated communities The Ridges, The Summit, and Red Rock Country Club.
The ten villages that make up Summerlin South are:
- Summerlin Centre
- The Willows
- Red Rock Country Club
- The Gardens Village
- The Ridges
- Ridgebrook
- South Square
- The Mesa
- The Cliffs
- The Summit
The parks of Summerlin South are:
- Summerlin Centre Community Park
- Village Green Park
- Sagemont Park
Summerlin Centre Community Park has two lighted soccer fields.
About Summerlin West
Summerlin West sits West of the 215 beltway and North of Charleston. Its further point North ends at Cheyenne at the Reverence Village.
Today, Summerlin West is Summerlin’s most actively developed neighborhood, with homes under construction in Stonebridge, Redpoint, Redpoint Square, Kestrel, and Kestrel Commons.
Summerlin West has four primary villages, 12 neighborhood districts, and over 5,000 acres of remaining developable space.
The villages and districts of Summerlin North are:
- The Vistas
- The Paseos
- Reverence
- Stonebridge
- Redpoint
- Redpoint Square
- Krestel
- Krestel Commons
Like Summerlin North and South, Summerlin placed the outdoor lifestyle as high importance in Summerlin West. Seven new parks are still planned and current parks include:
- The Vistas Community Park
- North Tower Park
- South Tower Park
- The Paseos Park
- Fox Hill Park
- Reverence Park
- Stonebridge Park
Fox Hill Park sits perched on a hill with spectacular views of the Las Vegas Strip and Valley. It has disc golf, a climbing playground, and ziplines.
Downtown Summerlin
Downtown Summerlin is a mixed-use development off the 215 and Sahara Blvd. Spanning 400 acres, the mall is home to large and local retailers as well as restaurants, offices, and apartments.
Downtown Summerlin is home to events like ice skating in the winter and farmer’s markets for locals.
Downtown Summerlin quick facts:
Office square footage: 794,014 sqft
Retail square footage: 1.2 million sqft
Downtown Summerlin retailers include:
- Apple
- Macy’s
- Dillards
- Trader Joe’s
- Crate&Barrel
- Daiso Japan
- Footlocker
- Gap
- H&M
- Nordstrom Rack
- Old Navy
- Sur La Table
- West Elm
- Zales
Las Vegas Ballpark and City National Arena
City National Arena opened in August 2017 as a practice facility for the Vegas Golden Knights hockey team. It includes a second rink for public use.
City National Arena has a merchandise store and a restaurant. The Vegas Golden Knights practices are open to the public.
The Las Vegas Ballpark opened in 2019 with a capacity of 10,000. The ballpark is home to the Triple-A baseball team the Las Vegas Aviators.
The Las Vegas Ballpark includes 22 suites, club seats, part zones and decks, kid’ zone, bars, and a pool. The premium club is 6,700 square feet.
