Jobs, jobs, jobs — that’s the vision being conjured up as Richmond hands the keys to its 120-acre port to the state of Virginia for 40 years.

On Monday, the same night as Richmond City Council gave a thumbs up to a proposal for a freestanding children’s hospital on the Boulevard, the nine-member governing body also unanimously approved the award of a four-decade lease of the shipping facility to the state. The hope: That the VPA will do for Richmond what it has done for another inland port in Front Royal — spark major job growth by attracting new businesses seeking port services.

The VPA, best known for operating the state’s main ports in Norfolk, Portsmouth and Newport News, has been in charge of Richmond’s neglected port off Commerce Road in South Richmond since 2011 when it gained a five-year lease.

The state authority beat out two other bidders for the long-term lease, including PCI of Virginia LLC, which currently operates the city’s port under a contract with VPA.

Councilman Jonathan T. Baliles, 1st District, cited the Front Royal example in supporting the deal.

Mr. Baliles said the Front Royal port took time to develop, but has taken off since 2002. Today, that operation has created 8,000 jobs by attracting 39 companies that collectively have invested $749 million to set up operations, he said.

That’s the kind of job growth that Richmond needs, he said.

Councilwoman Reva M. Trammell, 8th District, who represents the port area, also expressed delight at the prospect that a revitalized port could generate employment opportunities. “That’s what everyone talks about — the need for more jobs,” she said.

Mayor Dwight C. Jones pushed the 40-year deal, describing it as an important element in the city’s efforts to fight poverty. He, along with area business groups, envisions the VPA deal as generating new investment and providing “access to good jobs, an important ingredient to mitigate poverty” that grips one in four city residents.

He said a revitalized port under VPA control should ultimately yield a bounty of jobs in logistics, transportation, warehousing and processing, creating opportunities for more residents “to participate in Richmond’s resurgence.”

The city has given the neglected port area more priority after spending $13.5 million to relocate its fleet of cars and trucks and repair facilities from the Boulevard area to Commerce Road in the past three years.

During the next few years, the state and city plan to spend least $18 million to improve Commerce Road and Deepwater Terminal Road to better accommodate tractor trailers and port-associated vehicles.

VPA also is promising to keep the port dredged to handle larger ships, modernize and enlarge aging warehouses and replace the aging crane that unloads containers.

Meanwhile, city officials will be seeking to attract businesses that could benefit from the port to 14 acres of vacant land on the port’s property and 300 acres of available property on nearby Commerce Road.

City Council also voted 9-0 to join Mayor Jones in endorsing the concept of replacing The Diamond baseball stadium on the Boulevard with a modern, freestanding children’s hospital to improve services for ill children.

A business-backed group called the Virginia Children’s Hospital Alliance is spearheading the effort to create the comprehensive, independent hospital.

Essentially, the council’s resolution gives the alliance until early December to show this is not a “pipe dream” tying up the valuable 61-acre site on the Boulevard.

If there is no progress on the hospital plan, several council members said they want to seek other development options for the land.