In Mississippi, a local real estate developer has reportedly announced that he has secured the final $40 million piece of financing needed to build a new casino resort for the city of Gulfport.

According to a report from local television broadcaster WLOX-TV, Robert Lubin explained that the planned venture, which could cost up to $160 million to realize, is to be christened the Golden Harbor Casino and will sit at the foot of the city’s downtown district on a site adjacent to Jones Park and the Gulfport Small Craft Harbor.

The broadcaster additionally reported that some of the financing for Lubin’s planned Gulfport casino is set to come from a program open to overseas investors while the developer declared that he is confident of meeting all deadlines and receiving final approvals from the Mississippi Gaming Commission at the regulator’s next meeting in March.

WLOX-TV explained that Lubin was also the developer behind the scheme to transform the historic Markham Hotel building in downtown Gulfport into a venue hosting 64 apartments. But, this arrangement has now changed with the hurricane-battered structure, which opened in 1927 offering some 180 guest rooms before being transformed into an office complex in the 1970s, now due to be reinstated to its former use before the spring of 2019 in order to complement the coming Mississippi Aquarium project.

However, Lubin’s casino plan could reportedly come under fire from critics as the immediate area already hosts nine casinos including the Treasure Bay Casino And Hotel while the neighboring city of Biloxi is moreover set to welcome the $265 million Foxwoods Resort Casino At Biloxi Pointe early next year. Last month additionally saw local real estate developer RW Development resurrected plans to build a gambling establishment only nine miles from the proposed Golden Harbor Casino site despite being turned away in 2008.