Groundwork sets tone for Summerlin

Infrastructure within Summerlin provides the base to support all development within the country's best-selling master-planned community.

Each year, The Howard Hughes Corp., the company developing the community, spends about $60 million on infrastructure work, including power, water, phone and sewer lines; streets, sidewalks and landscaping.

"Nothing is constructed vertically in Summerlin until the groundwork is laid horizontally," Hughes Corp. executive John Potts said.

"Infrastructure work starts approximately 18 months to two years ahead of construction, so we're always planning ahead."

In 2000, infrastructure work included 3.6 miles of drainage boxes, nearly nine miles of water pipe, six miles of sewer pipe, more than eight miles of gas main pipe, 180 manholes, 16-plus miles of asphalt roadway, 22 miles of concrete curb, 14 miles of sidewalk, 93 streetlights, 8,300-plus trees, 53 miles of power conduit, 42 miles of phone line, 39 acres of sod and 127,000-plus trees.

"It's quite a laundry list," Potts said. "It takes nearly 50 valley contractors working on 35 projects simultaneously to keep the community's infrastructure on track."

The company emphasizes keeping infrastructure ahead of schedule.

"It sets the image of the community and it gets a lot of the messy work out of the way, keeping construction and development as orderly as possible," Potts said.

Parks are an area of particular focus for the community, where residents have access to more than 100 neighborhood and village parks.

"We probably spend more on our parks than we would if we simply gave the money it costs to construct them to the city or the county," Potts said. "Because parks are so important to the Summerlin life- style, we don't scrimp on landscaping or park construction."

Summerlin has ranked as the nation's best-selling master-planned community for nine of the past 10 years. Situated along the western rim of the Las Vegas Valley, the community is unfolding in a series of villages.

The community features two Tournament Players Club golf courses, the Bear's Best Las Vegas course and five others. Other amenities include more than 90 completed miles of trails, 16 schools, houses of worship, shopping centers, business parks, medical centers, and nearly 100 model homes.

Residential options include single-family homes, townhomes and condominiums priced from the mid-$100,000s to more than $700,000. Custom lots from one-quarter acre to three-quarters of an acre are priced from the mid-$100,000s to more than $1 million. Custom homes are priced from $500,000 to more than $1 million. Apartments offer monthly rents starting from the high $700s.

To visit the information center, travel west on Sahara Avenue, past Hualapai Way, to Town Center Drive. Or, take Interstate 215 to the Sahara exit. The center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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