NATCHEZ — Magnolia Bluffs Casino owners Robert Lubin and Kevin Preston were selected Tuesday to build a new $140 million casino in Gulfport.

The Gulfport city council voted Tuesday to accept Lubin and Preston’s proposal, which was in competition with two others.

Gulfport may not be the only city that benefits from the deal — Natchez residents and employees of Magnolia Bluffs could see more opportunities as a result of the new casino, Preston said.

“There will be opportunities for supervisor and management positions in Gulfport for people already (working at Magnolia Bluffs),” Preston said. “It’s a great opportunity for people looking to move up.”

As employees in Natchez are promoted to management positions in Gulfport, more jobs could be opened in Natchez, Preston said.

The new casino in Gulfport will include a large venue that could host major concerts, Preston said. Those acts may also travel to play at the Natchez casino in the same weekend.

“If we can have (an act) play in Natchez, and then Gulfport the next night, we can provide two shows and the cost will be less,” Preston said.

The City of Gulfport has teamed with the property owners, Marine Life and Misco Marine, to offer a total of more than 10 acres for the resort.

The resort would be built on the west side of Gulfport’s harbor, near the intersection of U.S. 49 and U.S. 90.

Preston said the casino resort would have a 300-room, four-star hotel, a large concert venue, a parking garage and four restaurants.

Lubin said an investment of $140 million is planned for the casino resort.

The Mississippi Gaming Commission must approve plans for the casino resort. Preston said he hopes a proposal will be before the commission within 90 days. If approval is granted, resort construction should take about 1.5 years.

Lubin will also invest in the historic Markham hotel building, which is estimated to cost $30 million.

Natchez attorney Tony Heidelberg, who represents the Magnolia Bluffs casino as well as Lubin’s interest in the Eola Hotel in Natchez, said the Markham hotel project was similar to the Eola proposal.

Lubin has submitted a proposal to the Natchez Planning Commission to renovate the Eola Hotel in the historic district of Natchez to turn it into upscale apartments for residents 55 and older. The plans include public restaurants and lobby areas as well as resident-only amenities.

The historic Markham hotel will also be renovated into apartments, with open public access to the first floor commercial space. The Markham may or may not be intended for exclusive senior living, Heidelberg said.

Lubin said he already has the Markham under contract. He plans to start construction on the Markham this summer and complete the project in 15 to 18 months.

As an attorney, Lubin specializes in working with foreign clients who are seeking EB-5 visas to enter the United States.

With these visas, foreign investors can secure permanent residency through the program by investing $500,000 or $1 million, depending on the area, in a U.S. business venture. Lubin’s law firm, Lubin, Salvetti & Associates, claimes on its website to having put together 27 major development projects by April 2014.

The EB-5 projects include Magnolia Bluffs Casino, which opened in December 2012 in Natchez with $23 million raised from 46 investors, the Eola Hotel, and the Hilton Garden Inn in Pascagoula.

The EB-5 funding, Heidelberg said, would not be available if the Eola hotel had been re-opened as a hotel, which is part of the reason it will instead be converted to apartments.

The hotel lost money in its last year of business, so the funding is only available for a project with a different business plan than the failed business that occupied the building last, Heidelberg said.

The developers also felt the small hotel rooms in the original floor plan would not be commercially viable, he said.