Balancing Nature and Development in Arizona Communities

Howard Hughes® strategically builds for future generations, skillfully leveraging decades of expert master planning and environmentally conscious development to drive our next decade of sustainable growth.

With our master planned communities (MPCs) spanning approximately 118,000 acres—perhaps the largest such portfolio in the country—we acknowledge the power of our scale, as well as the opportunities for taking climate action. Remaining flexible and forward thinking, we work to amplify and accelerate our efforts to advance resilience, conservation, and sustainability throughout our mixed-use communities.

Preserving natural resources is a key tenet of our strategy; not only do we aim to protect outdoor spaces for the enjoyment of community members, but we also want to responsibly steward the land we occupy by supporting the health of its flora and fauna.

Designing with nature in mind is the way of Howard Hughes.

Teravalis

Our goal is to create a true sense of community within Teravalis through smart uses of public spaces and community parks that encourage our residents to come together. We plan to dedicate more than 20% of the property to open spaces, providing an opportunity to easily connect with nature.

The best MPCs take years to create, nourish and develop. Similar to the way Saguaros, Ironwoods, and other plant life in the Sonoran Desert take years, decades even, to grow to their full potential. We are lucky enough to have several of these beautiful plants throughout our property, and it was important to us that we preserve all salvageable plant life before breaking ground. Last August, our team began relocating all plant life deemed salvageable to a nursery on the property, where they will be cared for until they are ultimately repurposed throughout the development.

Below are a few examples of our nature-based approach in a few other MPCs, strengthening our short- and long-term sustainable, inclusive, and transparent impacts. 

Summerlin

Within the Las Vegas-area master planned community of Summerlin by Howard Hughes, nearly 200 miles of reserved green space has been dedicated, with multiple access points to hiking and biking trails with breathtaking views of Red Rock Canyon.

Summerlin began incorporating desert landscape in the late 1990s and was one of Las Vegas valley’s earliest adopters of the concept. Furthermore, in 2003 and in partnership with Southern Nevada Water Authority, Summerlin became one of the earliest communities in the area to implement strict Water Smart conservation guidelines on a communitywide basis.

The Woodlands

In our master planned communities in Texas, each home is within a quarter mile of one of the community’s 271 parks. The Woodlands, a 28,500-acre, award-winning master planned community located 27 miles north of downtown Houston, is a “Run Friendly/Bike Friendly Community” with more than 160 miles of pathways and trails linking the villages in The Woodlands. Additionally, The Woodlands was named a Monarch Champion by the National Wildlife Federation for its commitment to the endangered butterfly. The Woodlands is also the world’s largest master planned community to achieve precertification under LEED for Communities.

“As we shape our cities of tomorrow and deliver the new urban experiences that people and businesses are seeking today, we are designing communities with urban amenities and intelligent infrastructure integrated into expansive open settings, with convenient access to major metropolitan cities,” says Jay Cross, president of Howard Hughes. “Howard Hughes is defined by our steadfast commitment to the master planned communities we develop and operate.”

Additional information is available in our annual HHCommunities Report.

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About Teravalis™   

Teravalis is primed to be a 37,000-acre premier master planned community located in the West Valley of the Phoenix metropolitan area, in Buckeye, Arizona. Translating to “land of the valley,” Teravalis is positioned between the White Tank and Belmont Mountain ranges and is committed to embracing the natural High Sonoran Desert beauty. Utilizing innovative technology and sustainable planning, the community will feature unparalleled amenities and wide-open spaces to explore and discover. 

Developed by Howard Hughes Communities™, Teravalis exemplifies the company’s reputation for creating vibrant communities that elevate the everyday, create meaningful moments in great places where people can live their best lives, and thrive for generations to come.