Gulfport is another step closer to harbor casino

Developers who have a 60-year lease with Gulfport for a casino at the harbor now are asking for site approval from the Mississippi Gaming Commission.

“They have sent their paperwork,” said Allen Godfrey, Gaming Commission executive director. “We’re in the process of making sure everything is in compliance.”

Godfrey said he doesn’t know yet if the application will be on the agenda for the commission’s July 21 meeting in Jackson. The agenda will be released next week.

Gulfport Gaming Development LLC wants to build the casino at the harbor where Rotate Black had tried for several years to get the financial backing to build a Hemingway-themed casino resort. Rotate Black had site approval, and Godfrey said Gulfport Gaming Development’s application is to get site approval on the three leased properties in its name.

The company’s partners, Virginia attorney Robert Lubin and Kentucky casino-company owner Kevin Preston, will have to return to the Gaming Commission to get permission to proceed with construction after they have raised the money to build the casino.

Lubin told the City Council last month developers are actively marketing overseas.

“We actually ended up doing better than we expected to,” he said, and reported interest in the project was particularly high in Asia.

Lubin specializes in immigration law and raises capital for developments from foreign investors who as a result can secure EB-5 visas and permanent U.S. residency.

The developers said they can meet the Gaming Commission’s requirements to build a casino resort on about 10 acres in the harbor for $140 million.

“Based on our experience,” Lubin said in an email, “we believe it is realistic.”

Gaming Commission regulations require that any casino built in the state must have at least 300 hotel rooms with a three-diamond or higher rating; at least a 40,000-square-foot casino floor; a fine-dining restaurant; and a unique non-gambling amenity designed to grow the casino market.

Scarlet Pearl Casino in D’Iberville, the only casino built in South Mississippi since those requirements were enacted, cost $290 million to build, or twice what the developers of the Gulfport casino say they intend to spend.

Developers of Foxwoods Resort Casino at Biloxi Pointe proposed for Back Bay estimate that resort will cost $265 million.

This story was originally published July 7, 2016 at 10:27 AM with the headline "Gulfport is another step closer to harbor casino."