The Los Coyotes Indian tribe announced plans to build a casino and a 180-room hotel off Interstate 15, giving motorists headed to and from Las Vegas another opportunity to gamble.

The tribe will partner with the Detroit firm, BarWest Gaming LLC, in building the $150 million resort casino in Barstow, a pit stop for travelers heading to Las Vegas from Southern California. The resort will have 50,000 square feet of gaming space, including 1,500 slot machines and 25 table games. The tribe believes it can attract more than 2 million visitors each year and produce $159 million in annual revenues.

"We have a vision, with the tribe, to build a destination resort," BarWest partner Michael Malik told members of the Barstow Redevelopment Agency on Monday. "This is a great location to take tourism to a zenith in your community."

The tribe does not own land in the area and must get approval from government regulators if it attempts to bring land located far from its reservation into trust for gaming.

The tribe would own the casino, but BarWest would provide investment capital and manage the facility for five years, Bar West attorney Lance Boldrey said.

The Barstow Redevelopment Agency unanimously approved an agreement Monday night to negotiate exclusively with the tribe and BarWest. Negotiations are expected to take three to nine months and an agreement will give the tribe three months to acquire control of the land.

City and tribal officials are hoping that groundbreaking could occur by the end of the year.