NATCHEZ — Gambling on new casinos might pay off for Natchez.

Two companies looking at bringing in casinos are on their way to bringing their projects to fruition.

The city recently signed an option agreement with Lane Company, which reserves the land for Natchez Enterprises, LLC, a division of Lane, for six months.

Natchez Enterprises wants to develop a casino and riverfront development under Roth Hill along the river just north of the Isle of Capri casino.

Meanwhile, Emerald Star Casino-Natchez, LLC, is rebuilding the former Ramada Inn Hilltop, just south of the Mississippi River Bridge, as a new hotel and making plans for a casino under the hotel’s hill.

If Natchez Enterprises signs a lease contract with the city, the city would seek to extend the maximum 50-year lease by 49 years.

A long lease would mean a better investment for the company, Lane representative Ted Doody said.

“The longer the lease is, the more value it holds,” Doody said.

But the longer lease would need special permission from the legislature.

“We would be asking (the legislature) for local and private legislation,” Mayor Phillip West said.

Since the state doesn’t allow a lease beyond 50 years, he said, that legislation would pertain just to Natchez and Lane.

“Different situations are unique,” West said. “When there’s a unique and rational basis of something of this nature, the legislature would consider local and private legislation appropriate.”

Natchez Enterprises is working with engineers to outline what the development will include, beyond the promised casino and botanical gardens, Doody said.

Doody said he could not share details on how the company would meet the state’s requirement of land-based investments to match the casino. The company has not bought any Natchez property yet, he said.

For the immediate future, the next step is in Natchez Enterprises’ hands, getting approval from the state gaming commission, West said.

That approval would mean they could start the construction process, Mississippi Gaming Commission Deputy Director Allen Godfrey said.

After meeting city building requirements, “They’ve got to have their final plans and financing in place,” Godfrey said.

They would then apply for a license to operate.

Down the river, Emerald Star has already received approval to proceed, Godfrey said, but have not yet received a license to operate.

One of the key steps toward making that casino a reality is to create retaining walls and work on the shoreline, which should start soon, Emerald Star President Bill Bayba said.

“That will probably take six or seven months,” Bayba said.

The boat that will house the casino is being finished in New Orleans, he said.

The hotel will likely open in January or February, and the group hopes to open the casino in April.

The agreement between the city and Natchez Enterprises doesn’t worry Bayba, he said.

“We’re going to be the second casino in that market (in addition to Isle of Capri),” Bayba said. “If (Lane) chooses to be third, that’s up to them.”

Jack Sours, general manager of the Isle of Capri, Natchez’ only currently operating casino, said he didn’t see that the city’s option agreement with Lane changed much.

Sours has maintained from the start that the Natchez casino market, made up mostly of locals, won’t hold up under the weight of two more casinos.

“There’s just not enough demand for it,” he said. “I guess we’ll wait and see how the market plays out.”

Natchez Enterprises isn’t worried, Doody said.

“We’ve solicited multiple market analysis and feasibility reports from analysts in the industry,” Doody said. “All reports indicate plenty of room for our proposed development in the Natchez market.”

The company will work to draw customers from outside the local market, he said.

“We’re going to offer visitors an alternative (casino),” he said.

More casinos will mean more jobs, too, Doody said.

“We’ll draw from the local market as much as possible,” he said.

“We’ll bring trained professionals from other markets to fill in the gaps.

Doody said he couldn’t talk about the revenue the casino might make.

“I don’t think we want to comment on that right now,” Doody said. “It’s kind of a touchy subject.”

The casino would likely employ 350 to 400 people once it was up and running, he said.

Along with jobs that will create income tax, the casino would provide the state-mandated roughly 12 percent gambling tax, a large share of which would go to the city and county, he said.

“The development we’re going to put on the ground is going to be a significant increase in the overall revenue income for the city,” Doody said.

The casino might mean less revenue for the Isle right away, but a second casino would help in the long run, he said.

“The presence of two casinos in Natchez will grow the overall market and create a situation where both casinos should benefit,” Doody said.

In addition to tax revenues, if Natchez Enterprises signed the proposed contract with the city, the company would pay $1 million each year to lease the land.

They would also donate $1 million to the city “when the doors open” and $225,000 each year after.

Emerald Star General Manager Wendy Grandin said she could not predict the revenues the casino and hotel might make, but that a second or even third casino would bring more business.

“One or two more casinos puts (Natchez) on the map as a destination,” Grandin said.

And Natchez as a destination would mean more revenue all around, including the Isle, she said.

Emerald Star, too, plans to hire roughly 400 employees. The company would hire locally but would also hire those who had worked in the field before, Marketing Director Baxter Lee said.

“One of the things that was a result of the catastrophes that were hurricanes Katrina and Rita was that a lot of displaced experienced gaming people are out there looking for work,” Lee said.