Members of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission voted 3-1 on Tuesday to award the Boston-area resort casino license to Wynn Resorts and its plan for an Everett casino.

The $1.6 billion Everett casino plan prevailed over Mohegan Sun's $1.3 billion proposal for a casino in Revere, next to the Suffolk Downs racetrack and on the East Boston border.

Commissioner James McHugh said the Wynn plan featured more capital investment, more construction jobs and more local spending, but expressed preference for Mohegan Sun because of concerns about the Everett plan overcoming opposition and obstacles to its construction.

McHugh expressed concern that permitting and environmental obstacles could present impediments for the Everett proposal, expressing "great concern" over the ability of project backers to collaborate with critics, including surrounding communities.

Wynn had a slight edge in the "potential yield" to the economy, McHugh said, but the likelihood of it being able to produce the yield is less than that of the Mohegan Sun proposal.

McHugh said he favors Mohegan Sun because he believes it will be able to "move smoothly" through the rest of the casino licensing process.

"Wynn is surrounded by communities that do not have a great deal of support for their effort," McHugh said.

Both applicants are slightly optimistic in their estimates of gross gaming revenues, said McHugh, who called both proposals "very good."

Commissioner Gayle Cameron said, "Both of them are excellent proposals. This is not easy."

Commissioners Cameron, Enrique Zuniga and Bruce Stebbins voted for the Wynn plan, although Cameron voiced concerns about "great risks" that could hold up the Everett casino.

Stebbins and Zuniga expressed more confidence than McHugh about the Wynn plan being able to move through the regulatory process.

Zuniga said he was mindful of potential job losses at Suffolk Downs, a racetrack with a long history, if a Revere casino does not materialize.

"There comes a cost, I'm not going to minimize it," he said. "There are jobs that might go away."

After the vote, Suffolk Downs official Chip Tuttle said the track has not been profitable since 2006 and predicted the loss of over 1,000 jobs.

The commission has already awarded a resort casino license to developers in Springfield and a slots parlor license in Plainville. No decisions have been made yet on the southeast license.

A casino law repeal question is on the Nov. 4 statewide ballot.

Former Gov. William Weld, representing Wynn Resorts, told commissioners Tuesday that awarding the company the greater Boston casino license would lead to the cleanup of a former chemical manufacturing site and fix traffic problems that would plague Sullivan Square in Boston's Charlestown neighborhood.