General Growth Properties Unveils Plans for Summerlin Centre; Summerlin's Social, Civic and Commercial Heart
May 18 2006 - 3:39PM
Business Wire
General Growth Properties (NYSE:GGP), parent company of The Howard
Hughes Corporation, unveiled details Thursday of its plans for
Summerlin Centre -- the future social, civic and commercial heart
of the 22,500-acre master planned community of Summerlin, located
on the Las Vegas Valley's western rim. Plans for Summerlin Centre
include a 100-acre community hub that combines retail shopping,
dining, office space, a hotel and residences, all surrounding a
series of grand public plazas to be known as Summerlin Square. An
adjoining 300 acres of Summerlin Centre, which includes the new Red
Rock Casino, Resort and Spa, will consist primarily of residential
development, offering a wide array of housing styles set amidst
town greens and gardens, all interconnected by paseos and pathways.
Summerlin Centre will be located northeast of the intersection of
the 215 Beltway and Sahara Avenue. The eastern portion of Summerlin
Centre will also include 1 million to 1.5 million square feet of
office and commercial space, starting with the 6-story Business
Bank of Nevada's corporate headquarters, for which ground has
already been broken. General Growth plans to begin construction of
Summerlin Centre in spring 2007 and celebrate a fall 2008 grand
opening. "Summerlin Centre and Summerlin Square will be places of
quality and charm where people come together to shop, work, play,
relax, linger and people-watch. Summerlin Centre and Summerlin
Square will be both an expression of the larger Summerlin community
and a place that strengthens community," said John Bucksbaum, chief
executive officer of General Growth. "We are paying close attention
to the quality of the buildings and to the quality of the spaces
between the buildings. Their collective purpose will be to create a
place that brings people together." General Growth planners based
Summerlin Centre's features on extensive market research, including
focus groups and meetings with local community leaders. Through a
major collaborative effort involving several world-class
architectural firms and consultants, General Growth anticipates
development to be ongoing for more than a decade after the 2008
grand opening. As a result of recent acquisitions, General Growth
gained significant expertise with building large-scale mixed-use
developments. Its other projects include the master planned
communities of The Woodlands near Houston and Columbia, Md. "We
have found through development of large-scale mixed-use facilities
that follow a carefully crafted plan, we achieve both critical mass
and a harmony of uses. The whole becomes greater than the sum of
its parts. Meanwhile, our master plan will remain a living
document, always subject to review and amendment as phases are
complete and we learn more about features that work," Bucksbaum
said. "Any of these buildings could succeed on their own but their
success will be vastly greater because they are conceived and built
with attention to the larger place they create collectively."
Highlights of the development include: -- 1.2 million square feet
of retail shopping including four major department store anchors,
additional "mini-anchors" and other local and national retail
merchants. -- A north-south pedestrian street, or paseo, that
invites visitors to stroll, window-shop or relax at outdoor gardens
and seating areas. Much of the retail shopping and restaurants will
be located on the first floor of low-rise buildings stretched along
the paseo. A grid pattern of east-west streets will allow easy
vehicular and pedestrian access and add vitality. -- A central
plaza, Summerlin Square, which will host public and civic events
such as musical or dramatic performances and community
celebrations. Located at the paseo's mid-point, in the heart of the
development, it will serve as a local and metropolitan destination.
-- An east-west "Marketwalk," intersecting the paseo at Summerlin
Square. As an important point of arrival from the east, the
Marketwalk will receive special design treatment, including
pedestrian shelter from the sun. -- A 250-room, 11-story, 4-star
upscale hotel with conference facilities. -- At least 5,500
residences of all varieties, everything from single-family homes in
park-filled residential settings to condominiums in buildings with
street-level retail stores and restaurants. About 10 percent of the
residences will be part of the development surrounding Summerlin
Square. -- Two class-A office buildings of five stories each with
street level space containing retail shops. The buildings
constructed in the initial phase will total more than 250,000
square feet. More office space could be added later. -- To maximize
comfort during summer months, ample use of shading with trellises,
awnings and special-design curtains. -- Shaded patios and seating
areas located throughout Summerlin Square for outdoor snacking,
respite from heat and whiling away the day. -- A 10 to 15 year plan
for ongoing development of additional residential, retail,
hospitality, civic and office buildings, making Summerlin the
centerpiece of a larger business center creating jobs, amenities,
homes and quality of life for southern Nevadans. The northern
portion of Summerlin Centre already boasts the just-opened 414-room
Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa, which offers entertainment,
meeting facilities, 10 restaurants, a 16-screen theater, a
world-class spa and a 3-acre pool complex. Summerlin Centre is 12
miles from the Las Vegas Strip. To ensure high quality buildings
and design, General Growth has assembled a team of world-class
architects and design consultants including ELS, Berkley, Calif.,
project architects; Communication Arts, Boulder, Colo.,
environmental design and image; SWA Group, Sausalito, Calif.,
landscape architecture and urban design; CBT, Boston, hotel
architecture and design; ROMA Design Group, San Francisco,
residential community architecture; Rocky Mountain Institute,
environmental sustainability consultants; and Martin Yoklik, an
authority on outdoor comfort in warm climates. "Central to the
success of Summerlin Centre is our commitment to long-term vision,
quality design and to organizing space that leverages the value of
early-phase development, thereby enhancing the value of all future
development," said Bucksbaum. "We have an unwavering long-term
commitment to Summerlin, with an ongoing willingness to adjust and
modify plans in the short term as circumstances warrant. We always
think of each step as one of many yet to come, with future phases
of development anticipated and the ground made ready." "Summerlin's
location on the western rim of the Las Vegas valley, close to the
Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, places great
responsibility on our shoulders to be good stewards of the
environment. By building according to our master plan, we avert
urban sprawl and give people a place where they can live, work and
shop all in close proximity without long commutes by car," said
Bucksbaum. "We plan a commercial and civic center that is
aesthetically complimentary to its beautiful surroundings and is a
model for environment-friendly building and design." Development of
the Summerlin master planned community was started by The Howard
Hughes Corporation in 1990 and final realization of the plan is
expected by 2020. Today, more than 92,000 people live in 37,000
homes and apartments in the 36 square miles that Summerlin
occupies. The community is currently home to 19 schools, nine golf
courses, a dozen houses of worship, more than 100 parks and more
than 120 completed miles of the Summerlin Trail. Summerlin's master
plan calls for a variety of housing styles, parks, bike trails and
retail and office space. General Growth Properties acquired the The
Howard Hughes Corporation in 2004. General Growth Properties, Inc.
is the second largest U.S.-based publicly traded Real Estate
Investment Trust (REIT). General Growth currently has an ownership
interest in or management responsibility for a portfolio of more
than 200 shopping malls in 44 states, as well as ownership in
planned community developments and commercial office buildings. The
portfolio totals approximately 200 million square feet of retail
space and includes more than 24,000 retail stores nationwide.
General Growth Properties, Inc. is listed on the New York Stock
Exchange under the symbol GGP. For more information, please visit
the Company Web site at http://www.generalgrowth.com.
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