In 1996, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was negotiating a property swap with the Arizona-based Olympic Group. Olympic Group completed the first phase of the BLM land exchange deal in October 1996, while the second phase was completed on April 26, 1997. The following month, the Clark County Commission gave tentative approval for Olympic Highlands, an 1,850-acre luxury master-planned community with a total of 6,000 to 8,000 homes. The development could also include casinos, offices, retail centers, and an industrial park. Olympic Group hoped to break ground in late 1997. The community would be located south of the Las Vegas Strip at the southern end of the Las Vegas Valley. The property was bordered by Cactus Avenue to the north, Jones Boulevard to the west, Interstate 15 and St. Rose Parkway to the east, and Larson Lane to the south. The community was expected to have a population of approximately 17,500 people.
The project would mark Olympic Group’s first large-scale community development. As a requirement before final approval, Olympic Group was requested to submit a financial analysis of the impact that the community would have on public services. The study would examine the effect that Olympic Highlands would have on roads, schools, fire protection, and other public services. Olympic also agreed to spend more than $150 million in public service improvements, which would include donating land for parks and schools, and upgrading the nearby I-15/Lake Mead interchange. Nearby residents were concerned about how the project would affect their horse ranches, mountain views, and night sky clarity. In July 1997, the Clark County Commission declined to hold public hearings on the project until the completion of the fiscal impact statement. By November 1998, the project’s name had been changed to Southern Highlands, due to concerns from the U.S. Olympic Committee, which was known for protecting the rights to its name.
The community includes the Southern Highlands Golf Club, which opened in 1999. The community also has its own 24-hour security patrol.
In 2003, construction began on the $30 million, 21-acre Southern Highlands Marketplace. The community’s first office space, a three-story building, was under construction in 2004. As of 2005, the community had approximately 7,000 homes, and had been approved for up to 10,400.
In 2005, Olympic Gaming proposed the Southern Highlands hotel-casino resort, to be built adjacent to the community. The $1 billion project was scheduled to begin construction in 2007, and would have included a 300,000 sq ft (28,000 m2) shopping mall, the Gallery Southern Highlands. Because of uncertainty in the financial markets, the project was delayed in August 2007, and ultimately cancelled.
The Olympia Sports Park opened in August 2018.
