Badlands settlement forcing Las Vegas to delay 17 capital improvement projects

The roughly $19.7 million in delayed expenditures is a fraction of the $286 million the city agreed to pay developer CEO Yohan Lowie’s EHB Cos. earlier this year to dismiss remaining lawsuits connected to the 250-acre defunct golf course.

The settlement, amid a downward economic trend and binding increases to public employees benefits, contributed to a projected two-year deficit of $110 million to the city’s general fund through fiscal year 2026, which began Tuesday, according to the city.

City Manager Mike Janssen told lawmakers in May that the city had “weathered the storm,” maintaining that no layoffs were planned.

Other austerity measures implemented were buyout offers, which 21 employees accepted, and frozen positions.

Most of settlement paid

Thus far, the city has paid $250 million for the settlement, according to the city, which has until July 1, 2026, to cover the rest.

Las Vegas secured $25 million in room tax dollars through the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority for parks in the current fiscal year budget and $40 million in consolidated taxes for other capital improvements, according to the city.

The city said those dollars “significantly reduced” the number of projects it originally thought it would delay.

Funds from projects being used for the settlements range from $8.6 million for an expansion of Las Vegas’ jail and $142,000 earmarked for wall painting and fencing improvements, the city said.

The settlement resolved a yearslong legal battle between Las Vegas and EHB.

In court filings, the developer alleged that the city essentially “took” the golf course by not allowing EHB to build an expansive housing project that Lowie had proposed shortly after he bought the four-parcel property in 2015.

Four lawsuits, one for each parcel, came after opposition from neighborhood residents and disagreements at City Hall about zoning.

Last year, the city paid a $64 million judgment to resolve one of the suits.

Multiple courts, including the Nevada Supreme Court, had ruled in favor of the developer. City leadership warned lawmakers that Las Vegas faced possible losses upward of $450 million if adverse rulings continued.

In a three-party deal closed earlier this year, the city paid $350 million to acquire the golf course, which Lennar homebuilders reimbursed to take over the land.

Lennar is planning its own 1,480-home development on the golf course, a project endorsed by EHB and approved by the city this year.

Delayed projects, renovations, studies

Here are the dollars helping cover the settlement.

■ $8.6 million from planned city jail expansion.

The city said it recently completed a $10 million renovation at the facility and that specialty courts and other alternative programming at the Municipal Court have helped minimize the inmate population “further reducing the need for this expansion at this time.”

■ $3.5 million from a planned expansion and fencing replacement at Woodlawn Cemetery.

■ $1.13 million from a downtown Las Vegas beautification program.

■ $1 million from planned modifications at Huntridge Circle Park, 1251 S. Maryland Parkway.

■ $900,000 from a “beautification” program for alleys.

■ $820,000 from a planned park at the Las Vegas Medical District.

■ $500,000 from the East Las Vegas Area Plan initiative for housing, public facilities, workforce and education and transportation.

The city said it had already earmarked $361,500 for the plan and that the half-million dollar expenditure was going to be an addition.

■ $500,000 from a quarter-century Public Art Master Plan, which aims to shape and expand public art through 2050.

The city said it earmarked $100,000 for the initiative in the current fiscal year.

■ $500,000 from a planned field renovation at the Viper Lacrosse Fields at the Thunderbird Family Sports Complex, 6105 N. Durango Drive.

■ $400,000 from signage at the Las Vegas Medical District.

■ $350,000 from a feasibility study for a possible animal shelter expansion.

The city said that Clark County was “advancing” a project to add a new shelter in the south Las Vegas Valley. The county and the cities of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas partially fund the Animal Foundation shelter to hold animals found or taken from people.

The three municipalities recently approved stop-gap funding for up to six months while they negotiate new contracts with the nonprofit.

But “if built,” the Clark County facility “will free up significant space at the current shelter, eliminating the need for this feasibility study at this time,” according to the city of Las Vegas.

■ $300,000 from a feasibility study for an amphitheater in Ward 4 in northwest Las Vegas.

The city said that the Skye Summit master-planned community is now planning a $20 million park, which will include an amphitheater.

■ $300,000 from an initiative to digitize jail inmate files.

■ $300,000 from planned upgrades to a Joint Information Center, where agencies coordinate public responses during large events or emergencies.

■ $234,000 from an initiative to modernize signage at park entries.

■ $215,000 from the city’s Smart Cities Pilot Project for Autonomous Vehicles.

■ $142,000 that was being used to paint walls and improve fencing.

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.