Summerlin developer plots new 400-acre section of sprawling community

Summerlin developer Howard Hughes Holdings is pushing ahead with plans for a new section of the sprawling community.

The Las Vegas Planning Commission on Tuesday approved Hughes Holdings’ plans to subdivide more than 400 acres into 13 “developer pods” and a dozen parcels of open space. The land tract is just west of the intersection of Alta and Crossbridge drives, where Alta dead-ends at the desert.

Plans call for a maximum of 2,909 residential units, or around seven homes per acre including open space areas, although the actual density at full buildout is expected to be less, according to a city staff report.

Julie Cleaver, senior vice president of strategic planning for Hughes Holdings, wrote a letter to the city last year indicating plans for this general area included a 20-acre middle school site, a 9-acre church site and an 11-acre “neighborhood commercial node” along Alta.

Summerlin, which spans 22,500 acres along the valley’s western rim, boasts 130,000 residents and some of the highest home prices in Southern Nevada, as well as parks, trails and community centers.

Texas-based Hughes Holdings sells land in Summerlin to homebuilders and has developed hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of projects in the heart of Las Vegas’ biggest master-planned community.

The company’s namesake, Howard Hughes, the famed aviator, business tycoon and recluse, acquired the land now known as Summerlin in the 1950s.

At the end of 2024, the community still had 2,443 acres of saleable residential land and 473 acres of saleable commercial land, the developer reported.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342.