Private golf club community in Summerlin takes shape

In the rugged desert near the Red Rock National Conservation Area, a private golf course community is quietly forming. You can see where the 18-hole, Tom Fazio course is being shaped into the heart of what will become The Summit Club, an ultraluxury residential community near Tropicana Avenue and Town Center Drive, just south of The Ridges in Summerlin.

Fazio, now in his 70s, comes to check on the course’s progress every week, said Kenneth Crews, vice president of development for the project that is a partnership between Discovery Land and The Howard Hughes Corp., Summerlin’s developer. The course, which will use reclaimed water, is expected to open next spring.

Steve Adelson, a Discovery Land partner, said Fazio is a family friend and has designed most of the courses in the company’s 19 resort residential communities in the United States, Mexico and the Bahamas.

The 550-acre-project will have 253 homes. Adelson said The Summit has sold nearly 70 custom home lots, with the majority being purchased by Las Vegans. That accounts for about $250 million in sales. Also, he said 30 people have made reservations on the 84 prebuilt homes. Prices range from $2.5 million for a clubhouse suite to more than $10 million for a custom home overlooking the golf course.

Construction will begin on a 110,000-square-foot clubhouse this winter and will be completed in 2½ years. Only homeowners can join the club, for which membership will cost a one-time $150,000 buy-in fee and cap out in the mid-$30,000s, Adelson said.

The golf course will be private and will not be open to events or nonresidents. Adelson said it will host a few charity events each year.

Last week, his team was preparing for a small party of buyers to gather at a temporary comfort station — an Airstream trailer stocked with refreshments — to see the progress and get to know each other. Discovery Land communities are famous for its comfort stations on its golf courses where players can get desserts, gourmet food, drinks and healthy dishes. There are even themed events like “Fear Factor” that put a twist on the game.

“We make golf fun for everyone in the family,” Adelson said.

In addition, another selling point is the community’s high-tech security system. A residential service program will perform background checks on all of the homeowners’ vendors. It will also provide services, such as laundry, baby-sitting and bill management.

The development gets its name and architecture design from the Rat Pack days.

The club will feature midcentury modern architecture and white-glove service, fun golf, recreational activities, kid’s program, restaurants and a wellness spa. The company has chosen three local architectural firms — Assemblage Studio, Hoogland Architecture and Pinnacle Architectural Studio — to build three spec custom homes.

Adelson said construction will bring thousands of jobs to the city and the club and community will; create about 400 permanent jobs.