Look inside some of Southern Highlands’ most expensive homes — PHOTOS

The soon-to-be-released Olympia Ridge hillside lots overlooking Southern Highlands Golf Club and Spa puts the woodsy enclave into a view category of its own, according to Mitch McClellan, president and broker of Southern Highlands Realty.

“Southern Highlands is now going to offer a new phase with roughly 100 more lots with views looking north toward the Las Vegas Strip with sweeping golf course views below,” he said. “These lots will offer spectacular views day or night.”

Other view-oriented luxury home communities in the Las Vegas and Henderson area tend to look out onto the Strip over a sea of red-tile rooftops during the day, he says.

“Olympia Ridge lots will look out over a golf course lined with thousands and thousands of trees,” McClellan says. “It’ll be really unique.”

Master planned by Garry Goett, founder of the Olympia Cos., and opened in 2000, Southern Highlands was built on 2,700 acres and is limited to about 10,000 rooftops centered by a Robert Trent Jones-designed golf course that many still consider to be the finest private course in Southern Nevada, according to McClellan.

The guard-gated and patrolled Southern Highlands Golf Club and Spa community includes 13,000 trees and was designed to include tree-lined streets.

Olympia Cos. plans to release about 100 new lots over the next few years. McClellan said half of those lots will be dedicated to buyers who want to build their own custom homes. The other half will be sold to a luxury homebuilder who will build a series of homes to sell to their buyers.

In fact, these views are so special that Southern Highlands is restructuring some former design standards to allow for more glass along the north-facing walls to help new homebuilders take advantage of the views.

While a lot of newer communities are looking toward more contemporary, modern design standards, Southern Highlands plans to stay committed to its traditional Mediterranean-, Tuscan- and Santa Barbara- inspired design standards, he says.

With all the lush trees incorporated into the landscaping, fall is a magical time in Southern Highlands, according to local Realtor Craig Tann of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Nevada Properties, who lived in the community for a number of years.

“The trees are just amazing,” he said while driving by stand after stand of trees changing leaves along the streets on a recent tour of the community.

“Its lush landscaping really makes it feel you aren’t in Las Vegas at all.”

Tann says once a buyer is sold on the community what they love more than anything is the convenience it offers.

“McCarran International Airport and the south Strip are minutes away,” Tann said. “And if you’re driving to Las Vegas as your second home or heading out of Las Vegas to your second home in California you are as close as you can get to the road heading south.”

“The M Resort has all the Vegas-style dining and entertainment people could ask for,” he says. “And The Southern Nevada marketplace shopping center offers the community easy access to grocery stores and restaurants, shops and gym.”

Tann says Off the Strip bistro is among the city’s top family dining spots and Rise and Shine is great for breakfast. Barcelona Tapas, Spaghetti Western and Kazuki Sushi also do not disappoint.

The enclave is nestled into the foothills of the McCullough Mountain Range, which creates a natural border to the south. Interstate 15 creates its eastern border while Cactus Avenue and Jones Boulevard round out the north and south entrances to the community.

McClellan likes to describe Southern Highlands as “quietly removed” from the hustle and bustle of most communities in the area.

Southern Nevada will never include any major east-west thoroughfares such as Flamingo Road or Sahara Avenue, which is a major traffic consideration, according to McClellan.

“We’ve never have that crosstown traffic like some of the other master-planned communities, he said. “It will always stay peaceful and serene for that reason.”

Custom homebuilder Robert Bero, who owns Chateau Development, has been building dream homes for the last 24 years in Southern Nevada. He has also been doing business in the Southern Highlands market since it was created in 2000.

Bero says Southern Highlands offers some of the area’s top values for buyers whether they are looking to buy a lot and build or looking for an existing home in the $2.5 million to $5 million range.

Florence Shapiro with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Nevada Properties has listed 46 Olympia Hills Circle for nearly $8.5 million.

“Right now I’d say $3 million puts you toward the top of the food chain if you were looking for an existing home in Southern Highlands,” he says. “With that you would be looking at a home in the 10,000-square-foot range with top-flight amenities such as an indoor-outdoor gourmet kitchen and wine cellar, with wonderful custom wood and stone finishes along with a great view lot with access to one of the city’s best golf clubs.”

While the trend for younger buyers is away from golf, McClellan believes that Southern Highlands Golf Club and its prestigious membership benefits that allow members access to its golf course, spa and gym will continue to be a draw for buyers who are interested in Nevada for its favorable tax structure.

“Southern Highlands is realistically one of Las Vegas’ best golf clubs,” he says. “And that will continue to be our best main draw.”

“Of course, many people are coming from other areas where they are used to trees, flowers and greenery,” he says. “Everyone benefits from the location.”

Five regional parks and greenbelts, the Southern Highlands Corporate Center and other existing and new single-family home neighborhoods starting in the $200,000 range, along with schools and churches, surround the golf course community.

“There’s something for everyone here in Southern Highlands,” Tann says.