Howard Hughes bought 30,000 barren acres near Las Vegas; land became Summerlin

A barren stretch of land on the western edge of Las Vegas once seemed to have little immediate purpose. In 1952, Howard Hughes acquired 30,000 acres there for a reported $3 an acre, intending to use the property for his California-based business interests. The plan never happened, and the land remained largely dormant for more than three decades. According to Summerlin’s official history, the property eventually became the foundation for a master-planned community that evolved into today’s 22,500-acre Summerlin.From barren land to a long-term development planHughes acquired the land in the 1950s when the western edge of the Las Vegas Valley was still largely undeveloped. Summerlin’s history says he was considering the property as a possible relocation site for some of his California-based businesses. That relocation never took place.