Developer Reveals Map For Master-Planned Community At The Lake: Here's What's Inside

Blake Hodits, a Lake-area resident who has proposed a master-planned, 2,000-acre development on the edge of Camdenton, has released the first public map of the project, offering the clearest look yet at what could be built at the site.

The map is below.

The map reveals a wide variety of uses and includes the following elements:

Residential Components

• Single-family housing areas

• Luxury homes (“Lux Homes”)

• Cabins (multiple areas)

• Mixed residential development

• Apartments

• Senior living community

• 3D-printed homes

Hospitality & Lodging

• Resort

• Luxury hotel

• Additional hotels (multiple locations)

• RV park

Dining & Retail

• Lakeside food & beverage (F&B)

• Retail areas

• Large-box commercial development

• Downtown district

• Midtown district

• Farmer’s market

Education & Community

• School

• Community center

• Treehouse (details unclear)

Health & Services

• Medical facilities

Commercial/Industrial & Employment

• Research park

• Industrial area

• Data center

• Large commercial zones

Recreation & Lifestyle

• Marina

• Adventure park

• Off-road course

• Disc golf course

• Par-3 golf course

• Bike trails

• Horse stables

• Event venue

Agriculture

• Farm area

Water Features

• Large central lake

• Additional connected water bodies / inlets

• Waterfront development zones

Hodits — who pointed to his local roots (he grew up at the Lake and graduated from Camdenton High School) called the map "preliminary," saying it "will evolve through the design process with the community." He noted that 1,000 acres of the plot was being set aside for conservation.

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

The map release comes after a chaotic week related to the project that Hodits' group, Mo Lake Development, has been publicly discussing since 2022.

Recent Timeline — A Development, A Data Center, & An Opportunity Zone

• On Tuesday, April 21, the City of Camdenton approved a letter of recommendation for an Opportunity Zone (a federal tax incentive program for development) in a tract that included Hodits' planned development area, plus other commercial areas.

• In a work session later that month, Hodits discussed with City aldermen the possibility of a 500,000 square foot data center at the location. (For scale, this would be the size of approximately 2.5 Wal-Mart Supercenters.) The City had previously passed a pre-annexation agreement with Hodits, meaning the development could be annexed into the City at some point.

• At a Camden County Commission meeting on Tuesday, April 28, Commissioners had met to pass a fast-tracked county ordinance severely restricting the construction of data centers. At the meeting, Commissioner Ike Skelton asked Brandi Freese, the sister of Blake Hodits and a member of the development group, if they were planning any "medium to large data centers" at their development. Freese replied, "You never know." Freese was in attendance to ask for support from the commission to support the Opportunity Zone designation. The commission passed the data center ordinance and planned to vote on the Opportunity Zone question on Thursday, April 30.

• Later on Tuesday, State Rep. Jeff Vernetti, who represents Camden County, announced he was withdrawing his support for the Opportunity Zone designation, after learning that a data center could potentially be part of the development.

• Hodits confirmed to LakeExpo in an interview on April 29 that a data center was among the many possible things being considered, but was not a guaranteed fixture.

• On Thursday, April 30, a standing-room-only crowd filled the county commission meeting room, with nearly all opposing the development of a data center (and some voicing opposition to Opportunity Zones). The commission at that meeting opted not to recommend the designation of the area as an Opportunity Zone.

• On Friday, May 1, the City of Camdenton announced that the Board would be meeting on May 5 to consider rescinding its prior recommendation of the area as an Opportunity Zone.

With the map release on Tuesday, which Hodits posted to his personal Facebook page, he included the following open letter:

To my neighbors at the Lake,

I grew up here. I left, built a career, and came home because there is no other place I would rather build a future. The future that keeps me up at night is the same one most of us are already worried about: too many of our kids grow up at the Lake, leave for jobs in St. Louis, Kansas City, or Springfield, and never come back. That is what this project is trying to solve.

I want the Lake to be a place where our kids can build a life, not just a place they are from or where they visit. Year-round jobs that do not disappear in October. Real training in trades, technology, healthcare, and hospitality. Housing young families can afford.

Attached is our current concept map for the nearly 2,400-acre property. More than 1,000 acres are planned for conservation.

The map is preliminary and will evolve through the design process with the community.

For questions or to share what you would want this community to look like, please email info@molakedev.com.

Blake