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After Data Center Debacle, Developer Ends Annexation Agreement With Camdenton

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Concept Map -- Mo Lake Development -- Including Data Center

CAMDENTON, Mo. — The development group that has proposed a master-planned, 2,200-acre multi-use development on the outskirts of Camdenton announced Thursday that it had ended its agreement for the property to be annexed into the City of Camdenton.

MO Lake Development LLC had struck the agreement with Camdenton in 2022, pending the company's purchase of a large tract in the Cross Creek subdivision area, behind the Camdenton Wal-Mart. However, the development group said in a press release (below), the agreement was contingent on the purchase of that property, which has not yet occurred. The group also says it now believes the City does not have the capacity to serve water and sewer to the Phase 1 aspects of the development that were proposed in 2022.

The proposed development had been a curious topic in the Lake area since the leader of MO Lake Development LLC, Blake Hodits, first announced his intentions in 2022. The project was clearly large in scale, but details were sparse.

Then, this spring, the development group found themselves in the spotlight after revealing a planned development concept map. The map included residential areas, green spaces, a shopping district, a manufacturing/industrial park, and a data center. That last piece — the data center — caused a major stir, as some members of the Lake community voiced fears common among opponents of data centers: concerns over power and water usage; light, sound, and water pollution; and what the data center might be used for.

As a result of the stir, Camden County passed a severely restrictive ordinance essentially preventing the development of any data centers (and — according to some — categorizing many existing businesses as data centers); and both the city and county withdrew their support for an economic Opportunity Zone that had been sought for the census tract that included the property Hodits was seeking to purchase.

Hodits and MO Lake Development have not released any changes or updates to their plans since the public meetings where his team met with furious opposition.

Hodits appeared in LakeExpo's podcast, Take On The Lake, to discuss his background and his plans in detail. The episode is below, followed by the press release from MO Lake Development.

The most talked-about development project at Lake of the Ozarks just got a full, unfiltered conversation. Blake Hodits — the man behind a proposed 2,000-acre mixed-use development near Camdenton — sits down with Nathan Bechtold for nearly two hours to set the record straight.

From his upbringing at the lake to working for Salesforce across the globe, to why a YouTube algorithm rabbit hole reignited a dream he'd nearly abandoned after losing his father… this one covers everything. And yes — we talk about the data center.

If you've seen the comments, the county commission footage, or the headline — this is the episode you've been waiting for.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

0:00 – Cold open: "This project didn't start with a data center"

0:35 – Welcome & introducing Blake Hodits

3:21 – Blake's background: growing up at Lake of the Ozarks

3:29 – Born in Quincy, IL — how his family ended up at the lake

5:43 – First exposure to data centers & the tech world in Springfield

7:11 – Working for Salesforce, traveling the world, and life in Australia

17:08 – Bitcoin, crypto, Mt. Gox, and investing early

12:02 – The Young Astronauts Club shirt & SpaceX launches

17:06 – Crypto: investing early, losing it, and coming back

17:06 – Coming home: COVID, St. Louis, and returning to the lake

17:06 – The Salesforce "retirement" story

17:06 – Dabbling with new ideas and designing concepts for fun

17:06 – The Camden County development: how it all started

19:21 – Discovering the Hopkins Property — the largest undeveloped tract at the lake

23:41 – 3D-printed homes and why they could solve the labor & housing crisis

28:51 – The 2,000-acre plan rebooted: investors, the concrete guy, and the Sphere

34:56 – Phase One: 550 homes, 100K sq ft of commercial, and small business focus

35:51 – The guiding philosophy: "If it doesn't work in the winter, it doesn't work for me"

41:28 – Data center on the map — where it sits and why that spot

55:21 – The symbiotic vision: using data center heat for a surf park, heated roads & a 130-acre lake

55:21 – Is that engineered? Surprisingly... yes

55:21 – Pollution concerns: water, air, light & sound — addressed one by one

58:47 – Sound pollution: the real unsolved challenge

59:28 – Addressing water usage — why stormwater alone could be enough

1:09:19 – Will your power bill go up? Blake's answer might surprise you

1:11:03 – The moratorium & county ordinance: what it means for the project

1:15:12 – A call for collaboration: "I'm not married to every detail"

1:16:12 – The county commission meeting, the "you never know" moment & Brandie's testimony

1:22:07 – Opportunity zones explained + what actually happened politically

1:32:31 – Blake's biggest communication mistake — and what he'd do differently

1:44:49 – Closing: "This project is still moving forward"

1:29:49 – Stay anchored, stay curious

🌊 Subscribe to Take on the Lake for more conversations about the people, places, and ideas shaping Lake of the Ozarks.

Press Release from MO Lake Development LLC

MO Lake Development LLC announced today that it has withdrawn its 2022 petition for voluntary annexation into the City of Camdenton and concluded the related 2022 pre-annexation agreement. The company delivered formal written notice to the City on July 2, and the City has formally received it.

The 2022 agreement was contingent from the start on conditions that were never completed, including the company's purchase of the property. It was also based on a shared understanding at the time that the City's water and sewer systems had the capacity to serve phase 1 of the planned development. That capacity was never confirmed and is now understood to fall short of what was anticipated in 2022. With those conditions unfulfilled and circumstances changed, the company has chosen to close the agreement out cleanly rather than leave it open-ended.

The withdrawal applies only to the unannexed property described in the 2022 petition. It does not affect the company's existing property inside the city, and no land changes hands as a result of the notice.

"MO Lake Development is a local, family-owned business," said Blake Hodits, Manager of MO Lake Development. "We are grateful to the neighbors, city officials, and community members who have engaged with us throughout this process. We respect the City's decisions, we value our relationship with Camdenton, and we look forward to continuing to invest in the community we call home."

The company said it has no further announcements at this time.

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