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Howard Hughes Corp.’s Summerlin land sales up over 2017 in Q1

Bolstered by a large deal with a Denver homebuilder, The Howard Hughes Corp. sold more land in Summerlin last quarter than it did a year earlier.

But the average price of the dirt slipped.

Howard Hughes sold 44.7 acres of residential land in Summerlin, Las Vegas’ largest master-planned community, in the three months ending March 31, for an average price of $647,000 per acre.

During the same period last year, it sold 37.7 acres for an average price of $697,000 per acre.

The Dallas-based developer disclosed the results Tuesday as part of its first-quarter earnings release. The company, which has projects and properties in Hawaii, New York, Maryland and elsewhere, booked $1.8 million in profit, down 68 percent year-over-year.

Expenses fell 15 percent, to about $159.1 million, but revenue dropped 30 percent, to $161.7 million. Howard Hughes said the revenue drop stemmed primarily from a required accounting change related to condo sales.

Summerlin spans 22,500 acres along the valley’s western rim, and Howard Hughes’ first-quarter results there were driven almost entirely by one land sale.

Richmond American Homes acquired a 42.5-acre parcel for about $23.8 million on March 1, property records show. The homebuilder plans to construct around 100 single-family houses there, Summerlin President Kevin Orrock, a Howard Hughes executive, said a few weeks after the sale.

Other highlights from Howard Hughes’ earnings and quarterly reports released Tuesday:

— It expects to close on a $53 million construction loan this year for Las Vegas Ballpark, the 10,000-person capacity stadium it’s developing for the Hughes-owned Las Vegas 51s minor league baseball team. The stadium is being built just east of Howard Hughes’ 106-acre, open-air Downtown Summerlin mall at Sahara Avenue at the 215 Beltway.

— The developer closed on a $44.1 million construction loan in late March for a 267-unit apartment complex that it’s building also just east of the mall.

— It sold three custom-home lots in Summerlin for an average price of $1.7 million.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.

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