THE MAN AND HIS IMPACT IN NEVADA
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr.
1940-50s
The Early Years in Nevada
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr., an American aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer and investor, was one of the richest and most influential people in the world during his lifetime. In Nevada today, he is best known for his connection to the award-winning master planned community of Summerlin®, he began to initially frequent the Silver State beginning in the 1940s. It is well documented that aviation was one of his legendary passions, and as early as 1941, Hughes frequently landed his planes at Sky Haven Airport in North Las Vegas.
Purchase of the Land that Becomes Summerlin
In the 1950s, Hughes purchased 30,000 acres west of Las Vegas for a mere $3 per acre—land that eventually became home to Summerlin where one acre of land is, today, valued at well over $1 million. The property was initially referred to as Husite. While Hughes never made clear his intentions for the property, it was assumed he would relocate some of his aviation business interests to the site. But that, of course, never happened. So, the land sat dormant for decades.
In 1953 Hughes leased a small house east of the Las Vegas Strip adjacent to the studio of KLAS TV-8 (local CBS affiliate) called the “Green House” for its color. Hughes eventually ordered his aide to seal the house shut. The house was reopened after Hughes’ death in search of a will. Today, the house still stands and is occasionally used for special events by KLAS TV.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Also in 1953, Hughes founded the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), a nonprofit biological and medical research organization. Today, HHMI is headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland is and is considered one of the wealthiest philanthropic organizations in the country with an endowment valued at more than $24 billion.
FUN FACT
Secret Marriage to Jean Peters
On January 12, 1957, Hughes married actress Jean Peters in a super-secret ceremony in Tonopah, Nevada. The couple lived together only periodically until their divorce in 1971.
1960s H Bringing Corporate Legitimacy to Las Vegas
The 1960s for Hughes ushered in a new era of acquisitions. In fact, Hughes is often credited with bringing corporate legitimacy to Las Vegas with his purchases of major gaming properties, effectively shutting down mob-controlled casino ownership.
After quietly arriving in Las Vegas on Thanksgiving Day, 1966, via Union Pacific rail, Hughes moved into a suite at the Desert Inn Hotel. He lived at the hotel through 1970, never appearing in public during that time, appointing Bob Maheu as his spokesperson/alter ego—a role Maheu played until 1970.
In March 1967, Hughes purchased the Desert Inn Hotel for $13.25 million from mobster Moe Dalitz. The Nevada Gaming Commission gave Hughes a license to operate the casino, even waiving the typical requirement for him to appear in person. From 1966 through 1967, Hughes proceeded to purchase four additional hotels on the Las Vegas Strip: the Sands, the Frontier, the Silver Slipper and the Landmark.
Land, Business Acquisitions, Mining Claims
Continuing his Nevada spending spree, Hughes purchased the 518-acre Krupp Ranch in Red Rock Canyon (now the Spring Mountain Ranch State Park) for $1 million in June 1967, followed by his purchase of George Crockett’s Alamo Airways adjacent to McCarran Airport for $1.5 million. Ultimately, his total investment in Nevada would exceed $100 million.
A few months later in September 1967, Hughes acquired the Frontier Hotel for $14 million; the North Las Vegas Airport for $2.3 million from Ralph Engelstad; and he filed papers with the Federal Communications Commission to purchase KLAS TV from Hank Greenspun for $3.6 million.
Hughes was aided in his purchases by prominent Las Vegas banker, E. Parry Thomas, founder and CEO of Valley Bank, who assisted Hughes in his ongoing acquisitions and land holdings for Hughes Tool Company. The purchases included 20 acres south of the Frontier Hotel; 41.5 acres near Caesars Palace; 100 lots adjacent to Desert Inn Country Club; three parcels behind North Las Vegas Airport; and two lots in the Ridgeview Tract Estates, a subdivision off East Oakey Blvd.
In April 1968, he purchased 480 acres of the historic Comstock Lode near Virginia City in Northern Nevada for $225,000—one of many mining claims owned by Hughes who later went on a mining claim purchasing spree, bringing the total of his claims to 503, covering 10,000 acres in eight Nevada counties.
1960s
In 1968, Hughes purchased two large pieces of real estate on the north end of the Strip for $11 million: the former El Rancho Vegas property and a 27-acre piece of land south of the Sahara Hotel (formerly the Wet ‘N’ Wild water park). That same year, he sold land to Steve Wynn—a small parcel located adjacent Caesars Palace. Ultimately, Wynn sold the land to Caesars, making a significant profit and considering this his first “big deal.” The transaction fueled Wynn’s raid rise in the gambling world.
Governor Paul Laxalt stated publicly that Hughes investments in Nevada put the “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” on the state, helping to improve its image.
Building a Legacy of Philanthropy
As Hughes was busy buying businesses, hotels, land and mining claims, he simultaneously began his legacy of philanthropy, starting with a $125,000 donation to establish Nevada’s first Community College, and another $125,000 to the State of Nevada to study the need for a community college. In 1969, he pledged $6 million to Nevada’s first medical school at the University of Nevada Reno.
Hughes Air West
In January 1969, Hughes purchased for $94 million Air West, a regional airline that operated out of Las Vegas. The airline made headlines on June 6, 1971, when a Hughes Air West DC-9 crashed mid-air with an F4 Phantom of the U.S. Marine Corp, killing all 50 passengers on board both planes, with the exception of the F-4 co-pilot who ejected to safety over the San Gabriel Mountains east of Los Angeles. The airline, known for its bright yellow planes with the slogan—Top Banana in the West—continued to operate through 1980 when it was sold to Republic Airlines.
Hughes the Activist
In April 1969, Hughes’ longtime personal campaign against nuclear testing raged. He met regularly with his consultants and the Atomic Energy Commission. Hughes was lauded by The New Yorker magazine for his efforts: “He has hired his own team of experts—his personal atomic energy commission—to look into the dangers of explosives; and his team has concluded that the experimentation is a lot more hazardous than the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission says it is.”
1970s
End of an Era— Launch of Summa Corporation
Before leaving Las Vegas for good in December 1970 to take up residency in the Bahamas, Hughes acquired for $11.5 million the legendary Harold’s Club in Reno— his first hotel/casino in Northern Nevada. In 1972, Hughes Tool Company was sold to investors, and Summa Corporation was formed as a holding company for Hughes’ assets, including the land that is Summerlin today.
On April 5, 1976, Hughes died mid-flight. His cousin, Will Lummis, was appointed executor of his estate shortly after his death, and over the next several years, Lummis sold off various assets, including the casinos, mining claims, TV station, helicopter company, Northern Nevada land holdings—all for a considerable profit. Of significance is the fact that Lummis held onto three properties: the large land holding in Las Vegas that would ultimately become Summerlin; Fashion Show mall and the Wet ‘n’ Wild Water Park—both on the Las Vegas Strip.
1980s
Summa Corporation continues Hughes’ legacy in Southern Nevada
In 1984, eight years after Hughes’ death, Summa Corporation made a generous donation to University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ engineering program, which resulted in the college taking Hughes’ name. Today, the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering is ranked among the nation’s top 100 graduate schools.
Land Exchange in Preparation for Summerlin
In 1988, Summa completed a two-part land swap with the BLM which paid Summa $2.8 million for 439 acres adjacent to the Red Rock Visitor Center. In return, Summa gave the BLM 4,863 acres near Red Rock in trade for 3,767 acres in the southern portion of the Summerlin community. This single act of preparation for the development of Summerlin was key to preserving and enlarging Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area—establishing a boundary that would forever protect it from future development.
1990s Significant Commercial Development; Launch of Summerlin
The 1990s were very significant for Summa, which officially launched the development of Summerlin with the development of The Hills Park in 1990, creating a gathering place for residents and future residents. This occurred simultaneously to the completion of Summerlin Parkway to Town Center Drive, establishing the community’s front door. The first family moved into the community in March of 1991. Throughout the 1990s, Summerlin continued its remarkable trajectory, becoming the country’s best-selling master planned community just two years after development began.
Summa also identified three large blocks of property for commercial development to dominate office and industrial development in Las Vegas at the time. These properties included Hughes Center, a 68-acre business located west of Paradise Road near Flamingo Road that was built on the old Sands golf course. For decades, Hughes Center was considered the premier place to do business in Las Vegas. Hughes Airport Center, located south of Harry Reid International Airport, spanned 3.3 million square feet and provided office and warehouse space for commercial and industrial companies. And Hughes Cheyenne Center, located north of the North Las Vegas Airport, was a 290-acre master planned industrial park.
In 1994, Summa Corporation was renamed The Howard Hughes Corporation to honor Howard Hughes and fulfill his original intentions of keeping his name on the business. The company was sold by Hughes’ heirs to The Rouse Company in 1996 for $520 million, plus half of future profits from the company’s undeveloped land holdings. Under new leadership the company included Fashion Show on the Strip and also sold properties like The Hughes Center in 2003 to Crescent.
2000s
While The Howard Hughes Corporation continued its laser focus in Las Vegas on Summerlin as one of the nation’s premier and best-selling master planned communities, the Hughes legacy in Nevada also continued to flourish.
• In 2003, the University of Nevada Las Vegas posthumously inducted Howard Robard Hughes, Jr., to the Lee Business School Hall of Fame.
• The Rouse Company was acquired by General Growth Properties (GGP) in November 2004 and relationship with the heirs was eventually terminated. Under GGP, the company also owned The Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian and Palazzo, and The Boulevard and Meadows Malls.
A new company, The Howard Hughes Corporation, was spun off from GGP in 2010 and to this day, continues its development of Summerlin.
• When Las Vegas Ballpark opened in Summerlin in 2019 as home to the city’s minor league Triple-A professional baseball team and affiliate of the Athletics, the Las Vegas 51s were renamed the Las Vegas Aviators as a nod to Hughes.
The Howard Hughes Corporation purchased the team in 2013 with the dream of moving them to Summerlin. This all came to fruition after they built the Las Vegas Ballpark.
• On April 9, 2020, University of Nevada, Las Vegas received grant to process and preserve Howard Robard Hughes, Jr.’s Motion Picture Papers.
• On September 8, 2022, Howard Robard Hughes, Jr.’s Film Production Records were unveiled at UNLV. “Inventing Hollywood: Preserving and Providing Access to the Papers of Renegade Genius Howard Hughes” is a joint project sponsored by the UNLV Libraries Special Collections and Archives and the UNLV Department of Film, and is funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
• In 2024, Howard Hughes Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: HHH) was formed, and the Las Vegas Ballpark along with the Aviators Triple-A MiLB team was spun off into a new publicly traded company, Seaport Entertainment Group. Subsequently, the real estate development division was renamed Howard Hughes Communities and became a subsidiary of HHH. Howard Hughes Communities’ award-winning assets include the country’s preeminent portfolio of master planned communities, as well as operating properties and development opportunities: Summerlin® and Downtown Summerlin® in Las Vegas; The Woodlands®, Bridgeland®, and The Woodlands Hills® in the Greater Houston, Texas area; Teravalis™ in the Greater Phoenix, Arizona area; Ward Village® in Honolulu, Hawai‘i; and Merriweather District® in Columbia, Maryland.
Howard Hughes’ bold move into Las Vegas in the 1940s sparked a legacy of vision, innovation, and transformation.
That legacy lives on in Summerlin—a place that champions fresh ideas, fuels thriving industries, and continues to shape the Las Vegas Valley’s future. Like Hughes, Summerlin looks beyond the horizon, creating opportunities for the next generation of innovators, leaders, and dreamers. The journey is far from over—and with each new milestone, the best is yet to come.