‘It’s heartbreaking.’ An affordable Lake of the Ozarks resort imperiled by $350M project

The new Ferris wheel and waterpark pop in the glitzy rendering, but Tina Wiley’s eye was drawn to what was missing.

Until she saw images of the proposed Oasis at Lakeport project on Facebook, she had no idea that her vacation home was standing in the way of a $350 million development at Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks.

Wiley has owned a timeshare at Lakewood Resort for 14 years. And now, even after a developer won approval from local officials to build a new resort on the spot, she hasn’t heard anything about what that means for her vacation getaway.

“We were kind of going, ‘what the hell, when are we going to hear about this?’” she said. “I feel like there’s shady business going on and somehow they’re trying to get it out from under us.”

In a series of May and June meetings, the city of Osage Beach approved plans for the Oasis at Lakeport project, which promises to add a new year-round waterfront entertainment option touting 25 acres of amusements, a Marriott hotel and a 26,000-square-foot conference center. It’s being developed by St. Louis-based SkyView Partners and Tegethoff Development, along with Fred Ross, owner of Big Thunder Marine, the largest boat dealer at the lake.

The developer has said gaining control of the timeshare property, which sprawls across several lakefront buildings, is key to building out the project. It occupies what will be the waterpark portion of Oasis at Lakeport — a feature so crucial the developer says it would “kill the project” without it. But so far, only a fraction of the more than 1,000 timeshares have been acquired by the developer.

Several timeshare owners contacted by The Star said they haven’t heard anything from their board of directors that oversees the complex or the developer who is looking to buy them out. Calls and emails to board members by The Star were unanswered.

Aside from approving the development project, local officials also signed off on a tax increment financing, or TIF, plan that pledges millions in incentives to the development team. As part of that process, the TIF commission determined the property — including the timeshare resort — was blighted. That offended timeshare owners who say the property is in good condition and left many worried that the government may eventually take the resort with eminent domain.

“I think it’s very strange,” Wiley said. “I feel like they are going to push us out.”

Across the country, timeshares are notorious for their high-pressure sales tactics that can leave consumers feeling trapped with ever-increasing annual fees and hard-to-redeem vacations. The Federal Trade Commission warns buyers that “it can be tough to get out of a timeshare.”

But several owners said their timeshares at Lakewood have provided affordable vacations for generations of working families. Like summer camp, families gather for a week year after year — not just with their families but others who share the same week at the resort. With the lake booming in popularity since the pandemic, timeshare owners say nothing else in the area can beat the value and experience of Lakewood.

“If we were to lose this we would probably not come back to the lake,” Wiley said.

Jeff Tegethoff, one of the lead developers of the project, said the timeshare board previously agreed to sell the entire resort. After agreeing on an $8 million price, the board said it was uninterested in selling, he said.

Tegethoff said the board has not communicated with owners, so he’s begun buying up timeshares one at a time.

“We’re not giving up. Were going to continue to acquire these,” he said. “I guarantee we’re going to pay more for these than their worth.”

Regardless of the status of the timeshares, Tegethoff said the Oasis at Lakeport project would forge on.

“At the end of the day, I own all the land around them,” he said. “Were going to continue on doing on our development and continue to acquire as many units as we can.”

Already, Lakewood has changed.

Crews have demolished the surrounding property, erasing the thick woods that surrounded the resort. Now piles of dirt and mulch pock the terrain around the timeshares.

“It’s almost surreal. They’re out there working nonstop,” Wiley said. “They’re going on with their project like everything is a done deal.”

‘The cart before the horse’

The Oasis at Lakeport project is the largest development to land at the lake in years.

While many celebrated the addition of family-friendly entertainment, the debate over incentives for the project is still raging. The Osage Beach TIF Commission in April voted in favor of a 23-year incentive package that redirects future property taxes to the developer to offset construction costs.

Ike Skelton, the presiding commissioner of Camden County and a member of the TIF commission, objected to the incentives. He said programs like tax increment financing were created to help alleviate blight in urban areas.

“Now we’re trying to blight open property that has nothing on it and lakefront property at that,” he said. “The way the blight statutes are you could damn near blight a ham sandwich.”

Skelton, who is of no relation to the late Missouri congressman of the same name, said he generally likes the proposed development project and what it could bring to the lake area. But the developer is seeking various levels of taxpayer support, including the local TIF, a community improvement district and a Super TIF, which gives developers state tax revenues as well.

“This guy wants everything,” Skelton said.

The unresolved timeshare issue has only intensified his skepticism.

“That’s their real property,” Skelton said of the timeshare owners. They’re getting taxed on it as real property. It is their real property and I think they should have much more of a say.”

Gail Griswold, president of the Camdenton R-III school board, said the project could drive up enrollment of the biggest school district at the lake. But the incentives could deprive the district of much needed revenue.

She said Osage Beach is setting a bad precedent by heavily incentivizing a single development that will compete with scores of other hospitality and tourism businesses.

“When cities are abating taxes that are not their own for a district that covers multiple cities, now they’re making sweeping decisions for an entire area outside their own,” she said. “It’s unfortunate that it’s legal but it’s definitely being abused.”

Griswold, also a member of the TIF commission, worries that the city prematurely approved the project and the incentive package — leaving timeshare owners susceptible to eminent domain in the future.

“Just from a governing standpoint, they got the cart before the horse,” she said.

But Osage Beach Mayor Michael Harmison said nothing is final with the project.

While the city has approved development plans and incentives, he noted that the developer only receives reimbursement once the project is built. And if the timeshare issue is not resolved by the end of the year, the incentives are forfeited, he said.

The mayor said the timeshare board and the developer had reached an agreement on a wholesale buyout of the property weeks ago. But that deal was never finalized.

“We’re letting the developers and the timeshare owners work it out,” he said.

Harmison said “eminent domain has never been mentioned.” But he said the discussion may change if the developer individually buys up a majority of the units.

“If you hypothetically have 1,000 timeshare owners and all but one want to sell, is it right to hold up development?” he said.

‘They’re ruining the lake’

During a June 1 city meeting, Osage Beach Alderman Richard Ross said the body hadn’t heard any complaints from timeshare owners about the development.

“There’s some implications out there on social media and so forth that we’re being big brother and people are going to get thrown out. And to this date, no one has spoke against this from the timeshare community.”

But timeshare owners said they didn’t know enough to speak out.

Because the property is used by vacationers, most live out of the area and don’t keep up with local news.

“This is the most information we’ve received: just being down here and talking to the other owners,” said Heather Foster, a Kansas Citian whose parents purchased a Lakewood timeshare in 1982.

Her kids, now 19 and 21, haven’t missed a summer trip to Lakewood since birth. The trips are low-key: boating or lounging by the pool during the day and playing games in the condo at night.

When Foster’s mother died two years ago, they held a memorial at the resort, spreading her ashes at the cove.

“That’s what it’s been to our family,” she said.

Foster noted that the family holds a deed on the timeshare, which she will inherit from her father.

“I don’t feel like they should be able to come in and just take it away without any discussion,” she said. “I was 12 when we started coming here and I’m 52 now. It’s just heartbreaking.”

Many timeshare owners haven’t heard anything official.

In the resort office, some have been reassured that the property is not for sale. But at city meetings, the developer has mentioned specific negotiations with the resort’s board.

“Who do you believe?” said Paula Daube, a hair salon owner from Plainview, Illinois. “Everyone’s talking about it. Everyone has their own idea of what they’ve heard.”

She purchased a floating week timeshare for $5,800 nearly 30 years ago. When she stays at Lakewood, she pays a maintenance fee of $753 a week that covers ongoing upkeep and property taxes.

Daube views that as a relative bargain: She’s looked around and seen some lakefront condo rentals commanding as much as $350 per night.

She actually owns two timeshares at Lakewood. Her family already stayed a week in early June and plans a return trip in August — if the resort is still standing.

Even if the property is spared, Daube said it will never be the same. The development surrounds the resort on three sides and promises to bring noise, lights and traffic to a previously quiet cove.

“They’re ruining the lake. They’ve already ruined this part of the lake,” said Daube’s husband, Roger Gettings.

A truck driver by trade, he said he’s all for private investors making a buck. But he said the planned development will forever change the Lake of the Ozarks.

“Honestly they’re stealing from the hardworking people who have built this lake up,” he said. “They’re not making this better. They’re making a spectacle of this lake now.”