Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley kicked off a series of promised bimonthly press conferences on Thursday, using the opportunity to address the imminent resolution to a decade-long legal battle with a developer that is set to cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

“It’s time to end the Badlands controversy,” the newly minted mayor said from City Hall. “If you don’t know how much you’re paying out, there’s no way you could do budgeting or planning for the future.”

Under a deal expected to close next month, the city will take part in a three-way land transaction that will ultimately give $286 million to EHB Cos. — the owner of the defunct 250-acre Badlands golf course — to settle three lawsuits. The city has already paid EHB a $64 million judgment to resolve a fourth suit.

Multiple courts, including the Nevada Supreme Court, have sided with EHB, which alleged the city “took” the land when it didn’t permit the company to build an expansive housing project there after CEO Yohan Lowie bought the property in 2015.

Berkley’s remarks came during her first press conference as mayor. Vowing transparency, the former U.S. congresswoman, elected mayor in November, said she would take questions from the media every two weeks.

They came one day after the City Council unanimously approved a new housing development on the site of the former Badlands Golf Club near Alta Drive and Rampart Boulevard.

Under a nonbinding, three-party agreement, the city would pay EHB $636 million to take ownership of the golf course. Lennar Homes would then reimburse the city $350 million for the land. EHB would keep the remaining $286 million and settle the lawsuits.

“Their offer came at the absolute right time,” Berkley said about Lennar, adding that it was a cash offer.

Lennar is planning to build a gated master-planned community with up to 1,480 upscale residences on the property.

An attorney representing Lennar told the City Council that the company will now commission studies, such as those related to drainage and traffic, and then seek building permits. The city ordered the developer to first fence and clear the land.

Just like Lowie’s initial proposal a decade ago, the project has faced pushback from residents of the adjacent Queensridge community. They have expressed concerns about density, traffic and the number of schools in the area.

‘Belt tightening’

To offset the costly settlement — which will be paid from various funds — the city offered its staff voluntary buyouts.

So far, 21 employees have decided to retire early, and their vacated positions will be frozen through fiscal year 2027, according to the city. An unknown number of capital improvement projects have also been delayed.

“Obviously, this is not how I anticipated coming into the mayor’s office — with these financial constraints,” Berkley said Thursday. “But we have a responsibility and an obligation to do what we have to do to end the Badlands saga.”

City officials told Nevada lawmakers that they weren’t planning layoffs. Continuing to fight the three remaining lawsuits could have cost the city upward of $450 million, city officials have said.

“We are doing some belt tightening, but as soon as things soften up a little bit, or tighten up a little bit, we go back to normal,” Berkley said Thursday. “But I think it would be very irresponsible to spend money we don’t have, and so we’re doing the best we can.”

She described the city’s future as “rosy.”

“In a few years, this is just going to be a memory,” Berkley said, “because I believe, I have enough faith in our city and I know how strong our economy is that a couple of years from now, this will all be over.”

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

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