Howard Hughes Creates Luxury Homebuyers Haven Near Las Vegas

Summerlin, a high-end boom town near Las Vegas developed by Howard Hughes Holdings, may become even more exclusive.

The Texas-based builder is developing a secretive haven of luxury estates targeted to exclusive buyers, paying $6 million an acre northwest of the Summerlin Parkway-215 Beltway interchange, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported, citing an earnings call.

In December, the firm sold six homesites on 3.8 acres in the new community dubbed Astra for nearly $23 million. Buyers must still build their homes along the base of the Spring Mountains, with sweeping views of Las Vegas.

In the earnings call, Hughes CEO David O’Reilly said the Astra lot sales clearly demonstrate Summerlin’s appeal to “ultra-luxury homebuyers.”

Howard Hughes hasn’t marketed the 170-acre project to the public, according to real estate experts. Instead, lots are being sold in phases to “a select group of qualified buyers,” according Elle Gaensslen, director of sales at Hughes Holdings.

Astra at La Madre Peaks, as she billed it, “represents the most elite custom homesite neighborhood in Summerlin developed by Howard Hughes to date,” she told the Review-Journal in a statement. It’s not mentioned on the company website.

In early 2023, the Las Vegas Planning Commission approved plans by Howard Hughes for a single-family subdivision with 81 lots on 78 acres west of the Summerlin Parkway-Beltway interchange. The area was labeled in city records as “custom lots.”

In October, the Planning Commission approved plans for custom addressing on 44 of those lots. The hand-picked buyers in December were among that group.

Las Vegas real estate agent Haley George of Douglas Elliman, who has been tracking the project with sales data, maps and other information on her website, said she’s been in contact with the developer and has clients interested in buying home sites.

But overall, the project formerly known as Amaya Summerlin has been very “hush hush,” she told the newspaper

Summerlin has other wealthy enclaves, including The Ridges and The Summit Club. But at Astra, agents say the views are unlike anything else near Las Vegas.

Michael Bondi, an agent with Urban Nest Realty/Real who has mapped out the site with drones, said information on the project has been scarce. He’s heard it will have beefed up security, and a massive clubhouse and “amenity center.”

Summerlin, with 22,500 acres along the valley’s western rim, is Las Vegas’ biggest master-planned community, with some of the highest home prices in Southern Nevada.

Billionaire Howard Hughes bought the land in the 1950s now known as Summerlin, named after his grandmother. Hughes Holdings Holdings sells land in Summerlin to home builders and has spent hundreds of millions on projects, including the Downtown Summerlin mall.

George sees land prices in its newest custom-home project heading even higher.

“I think it’s going to go crazy out there,” she told the Review-Journal.

— Dana Bartholomew