Summerlin is a planned community under development by The Howard Hughes Corporation (an affiliate of General Growth Properties) in Southern Nevada, along the western rim of the Las Vegas Valley 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.Fact: date=March 2009 and continues to rank among the top ten best-selling communities in the country some 19 years after development first began.Fact: date=March 2009 The community includes a variety of land uses, including: residential, commercial, recreational, educational, medical, open space, and cultural. As of January 2008, Summerlin's population was more than 97,500.Fact: date=March 2009

History

In the mid 1950s Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. purchased 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 of land adjoining Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area for of land located south of Summerlin. This landmark land exchange was facilitated by The Nature Conservancy and critically acclaimed by the environmental community.Fact: date=March 2009 It created a buffer zone to protect Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area from future development.Fact: date=March 2009

Summa Corporation began construction of Summerlin in 1990 but initiated planning and infrastructure construction – including Summerlin Parkway – in the late 1980s.Fact: date=March 2009

In 2002, The Howard Hughes Corporation enacted a second exchange with the Bureau of Land Management, giving more than of environmentally sensitive land adjacent to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area for 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, a dozen houses of worship, shopping centers, medical and cultural facilities, business parks and 23 public and private schools.Fact: date=March 2009

The community is unfolding in villages and today, 19 of 30 total villages are complete or are under development.Fact: date=March 2009

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 of its 25,000 acres yet to develop.Fact: date=March 2009

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.Fact: date=March 2009