A world-renowned philanthropist and businessman, Hughes helped make Las Vegas the world-class entertainment, commercial, industrial and residential city it is today. Credited by many for pulling Las Vegas out of the economic slump of the mid-1960's, Hughes had a lifelong affinity for Nevada. After moving to Las Vegas in 1966, Hughes pioneered the era of corporate ownership of hotels and casinos in Las Vegas with his purchase of the Desert Inn and seven other hotels in Las Vegas and Reno.

His impressive real estate holdings in Southern Nevada provided the cornerstone for the phenomenal level of growth and development that continues today. Named after his grandmother, Jean Amelia Summerlin, Summerlin accounts for nearly half of the 49,000 acres of land Howard Hughes owned at the time of his death in 1976. Ranked as America's best-selling master-planned community, Summerlin was honored as the Urban Land Institute's 2002 New Community of the Year.