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A land deal that would have allowed developer Bill Walters to turn a golf course into a housing development next to the city's water treatment plant is dead -- for now at least.

Walters said Friday he was withdrawing his offer to pay the city $7.2 million in exchange for lifting a deed restriction on the Royal Links Golf Club.

Walters' actions came in response to a report released by Attorney General George Chanos last week that concluded Walters had received favorable treatment from city staff and elected officials, in violation of a state law requiring that public assets be used for the public's benefit.

Chanos had said he would sue the city if it voted to pass the deal again. The Las Vegas City Council voted to lift the deed restriction, before reversing itself after Chanos announced his investigation.

Walters didn't rule out bringing the proposal back for reconsideration in the future.

"From our perspective, we're in no hurry. Therefore, we're withdrawing our offer for the time being. There's no urgency, no rush, and the city needs to find out what the facts are," he said Friday.

Walters would not answer any follow-up questions.

Mayor Oscar Goodman said Walters told him about his decision over coffee Friday morning at the Peppermill Coffee Shop.

"At the conclusion of our meeting, he said he was going to withdraw his bid purchase," Goodman said.

He said Walters did it voluntarily without Goodman asking him to do it.

Walters' decision spares Goodman from having to go back on a promise he made publicly to revisit the issue once the attorney general's investigation was complete.

The report didn't investigate any possible wrongdoing by Walters, though it examined questionable decisions by city staff and elected officials, particularly former Public Works Director Richard Goecke.

"It appears that there has been a consistent pattern of political and financial favoritism granted to Mr. Walters' business entities by the City of Las Vegas," the report said.

Chanos has said the investigation is ongoing, and that he could press criminal charges.

Walters was not interviewed as part of the investigation. He complained that the law firm hired by the state contacted him late in the investigation and would not give him information he said would have helped him remember deals with the city that stretched back 10 years.

"The report has a lot of information in it that needs to be evaluated by the city," Walters said. "The people at the city need to totally understand whatever the report says. They need to take a good hard look at it and conclude what the facts are."

It's unlikely anyone with the city would have brought back the proposal to allow homes on the golf course land in the face of sharp criticism from investigators and the threat of a lawsuit from Chanos.

City Manager Doug Selby said he would not put the item back on the agenda, though he continued to defend the deal.

Chanos said Thursday that instead of $7.2 million, the city should receive at a minimum $30 million for removing the deed restriction. That's the amount the city could have to spend on odor controls at its wastewater treatment plant if the golf course were replaced by 1,200 homes, some as close as 20 feet from the facility, according to a city-commissioned report that the council received before it originally voted in favor of the project.

Goodman repeated Friday that he viewed the report as "constructive criticism."

At its Wednesday meeting, the City Council and staff will discuss changes to prevent such deals in the future, such as improved communication between the city manager and council members and rules on how to treat whistleblowers. The council also will address specific aspects of the report.