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By Adam Vaccaro

Boston.com Staff | 03.19.15 | 6:46 PM

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission voted on Thursday to give the developers behind proposed New Bedford and Somerset casinos 46 more days—until Monday, May 4—to complete its applications for the state’s last remaining casino license, in the southeastern part of the state.

Additionally, KG Urban, the developer behind the New Bedford casino, which would be operated by Foxwoods, struck a host city agreement with Mayor John Mitchell Thursday. The agreement will pay New Bedford $12.5 million per year and $4.5 million upfront if the casino is built, according to a news release from KG Urban. It’s a big swing from two weeks ago, when a deal between the city and the developer looked to be just about dead.

KG Urban, though, had missed a deadline on Monday—which itself was an extension of a previous January 30 deadline—to turn in its application for the license. KG Urban representatives told the gaming commission Thursday afternoon that having a deal in place will make it easier to get funders on board. Its application is currently missing funding sources—which led it to ask for the six-week extension.

The Somerset group, led by developer Crossroads, had asked for another 21 days, but will get the same 46-day extension as KG Urban. The group does not have financing lined up, or a host city agreement, and its plans for a potential casino operator remain unclear. Gaming commissioners who voted in favor of the extension of the deadline for the New Bedford casino reasoned that if they were extending it for KG Urban, they might as well extend it for Somerset as well.

The gaming board is expected to sign off on a casino project in the fall. A Brockton project has already filled out its full application, while the New Bedford and Somerset projects have now twice asked for extensions.

The board voted 3-2 to extend the deadline for both parties for a second time in less than two months, but some commissioners were skeptical. Commissioner Enrique Zuniga suggested that if the would-be developers hadn’t been able to get their ducks in a row yet, he wasn’t sure they ever would. Commissioner Gayle Cameron, who along with Zuniga voted no on granting the extensions, suggested the board should discuss soon whether the southeast region is still even viable for a commercial casino.

If the Somerset and New Bedford proposals come in on time, they will reach the gaming board a good three months after a full application was submitted from Brockton Fairgrounds owner George Carney and Rush Street Gaming subsidiary Mass Gaming & Entertainment, which met the original January 30 deadline. Brockton has reached a host city agreement on the proposed casino that will pay out $10 million per year, and has scheduled a city referendum on the proposed casino for May 12, just eight days after the new deadline for KG Urban and Crossroads.

Former Brockton Mayor Jack Yunits spoke on behalf of the Brockton group at Thursday’s meeting, asking that the gaming board keep in mind that his proposal had met its deadline. “Treat the rules like rules, not guidelines,” he said.

But the board opted to keep things open a little bit longer.