The Howard Hughes Corporation

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Entrance to Howard Hughes Corporation headquarters
Entrance to Howard Hughes Corporation headquarters

The Howard Hughes Corporation is a major real estate development and management company based in Las Vegas, Nevada, which was founded by Howard Hughes. Later sold to the Rouse Company, it is now a subsidiary of General Growth Properties.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Formation as Summa Corporation

Originally known as Summa Corporation, Howard Hughes Corp. was formed in 1972 when the oil tools business of Hughes Tool Company was floated on the New York Stock Exchange under the Hughes Tool name. This forced the remaining businesses of the "original" Hughes Tool to adopt a new corporate name - Summa. The name "Summa", Latin for "higher", was adopted without the approval of Hughes himself, who preferred to keep his own name on the business and suggested HRH Properties (for Hughes Resorts and Hotels, and also his own initials), but his executives paid no attention.

[edit] Company refocused on real estate

Following the death of Howard Robard Hughes Jr. in 1976 at age 70, most of Summa's remaining business were sold off. Howard Hughes had amassed vast holdings of undeveloped land both in Las Vegas and in the desert surrounding the city that had gone unutilized during his lifetime. His successors at Summa refocused the company on real estate development, selling all noncore business holdings.

Holdings sold off were:

  • Hughes Nevada Mining (sold off in 1977)
  • KLAS Inc. (holding company for the Las Vegas CBS affiliate, sold to the founders of the The Weather Channel in 1979)
  • Hughes Air Corporation (holding company for Hughes Air West; sold to Republic Airlines in 1979)
  • Hughes Helicopters Inc. (sold to McDonnell-Douglas in 1984 and renamed McDonnell-Douglas Helicopters)
  • Hughes Sports Network (a production company specializing in the broadcast of sporting events, sold in the mid 1980s).

Summa also owned a wide array of hotels and casinos, primarily in Las Vegas, that constituted the bulk of Summa's business in the 1970's.

[edit] Company renamed and sold off

Hughes' heirs eventually renamed the company in his honor, Summa became Howard Hughes Corporation in 1994. Hughes' heirs sold Howard Hughes Corp. to the Rouse Company in 1996, and the company survives as a Rouse subsidiary. Rouse was acquired by General Growth Properties in 2004. Hughes' heirs, primarily the Lummis family, continue to hold an equity interest in Summerlin, a giant planned residential community being built in stages by Howard Hughes Corp. on the Las Vegas outskirts.

[edit] Hotels and casinos formerly owned by Summa

[edit] Development projects

Howard Hughes Corp.'s current projects are Summerlin, a massive master planned community that will eventually house 160,000 residents; Summerlin Centre, a mixed-use town center for Summerlin, and Fashion Show, a giant retail center in downtown Las Vegas currently undergoing a major redevelopment.

Most of Howard Hughes Corp.'s past projects have been business parks in the Las Vegas area, including The Crossings, The Canyons, The Plazas, Corporate Pointe, and Hughes Center.

[edit] External links