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'Without A Data Center': Developer Of 2,000-Acre Master Planned Community Seeks Linn Creek Annexation

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Proposed Annexation - City Of Linn Creek

CAMDEN COUNTY, Mo. — The developer of an ambitious master-planned community concept in Camden County says he has purchased the 2,368-acre property behind the Camdenton Wal-Mart and is seeking to annex most of the land into the City of Linn Creek.

Linn Creek announced this week that it would be holding a public hearing at 6 p.m. on Sept. 30 at Linn Creek City Hall regarding the proposed annexation of 1,931 acres of the property. The full announcement is at the end of this article.

And while some in the community worry the annexation is part of a plan to bring a data center to the Lake, Blake Hodits, the head of Mo Lake Development, which owns the property, is emphasizing that he intends to develop the area without one.

He told LakeExpo, "The development objectives we layed [sic] out to the public earlier this year can succeed without a data center, and we moved forward with purchasing the land on that basis."

When asked whether a data center was still viable at all, in light of a new county ordinance, and whether he would be willing to proceed with the rest of his development if a data center were off the table, he responded: "We closed on the property knowing the broader development had to work without a data center. It does, and we intend to move forward without one. An earlier concept included a possible data center, so I understand why people are asking. We are not developing a data-center proposal or seeking approval for one. The September 30 hearing concerns annexation; it would not approve a data center."

It took Hodits about five years to buy the massive tract near the intersection of Highway 54 and Highway 5, but he confirmed to LakeExpo this week that he has finally purchased the acreage with plans to develop it.

Hodits first publicly floated the idea for a large, master-planned community in 2022, but he came into the spotlight in the spring of 2026 when his published drawings showed a mid-sized (500,000 square foot) data center to be located on the property.

Map Presented In Early 2026 By Mo Lake Development

This site plan was presented as an initial look at Mo Lake Development's plans for an approximately 2,000-acre master planned development, in early 2026. Since then, developer Blake Hodits says he has abandoned plans to build a data center on the site.

That sparked a firestorm of opposition, a flurry of hurriedly-passed city and county ordinances placing a moratorium on data center construction and severely regulating any future ones, and an about-face among elected officials regarding support for a federal opportunity zone designation in the census tract that contains the planned development.

Hodits discussed the plans and the opposition at length in an interview on LakeExpo's podcast, Take On The Lake, below.

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.

At the time, he emphasized that a data center was not critical to the success of his plan and noted that when he had initially drawn his plans, data centers were not the controversial topic they have become in 2026 across the country.

He also noted that the data center he had intended for the site would be about 500,000 square feet. For scale, the line of retail stores at Osage Beach's Prewitt's Point that stretches from Hy-Vee to Lowe's totals about 400,000 square feet. Hodits said the data center would have been significantly smaller than the massive ones being built in some parts of the country. In the podcast interview, he called it "decent size, but it's not like hyper scale size," adding, "Our [natural gas] pipeline is a high-pressure six-inch pipeline. That's not huge. Like... we have 50 megawatts available on the site right now... I think Kevin O'Leary's [data center] project's like 10 gigawatts."

He had initially sought annexation into the City of Camdenton, even securing a pre-annexation agreement with the City in 2022. That agreement was cancelled in July.

Now, as he seeks annexation into the nearby City of Linn Creek instead, Hodits emphasized in an interview with LakeExpo that he is doing so without assuming the county's near-prohibitive data center ordinance will change. Linn Creek operates within Camden County's Planning & Zoning district, and the City says annexation of the property would not change that.

Hodits wrote in a message to LakeExpo on Thursday, Sept. 24:

Here are the key facts:

• Our overall development initiative encompasses 2,368 acres, with a goal of conserving more than 1,000 acres. The vision remains the year-round community: housing, hospitality, recreation, education, local businesses and career opportunities.

• We are requesting voluntary annexation of approximately 1,931 acres into Linn Creek. (Ironically the same year that old linn creek was flooded) The request covers our property only. No neighboring properties are included.

• This request does not seek zoning changes, building permits or approval to construct a specific project. The development’s zoning has not been approved. Zoning approvals and permits remain separate steps.

• Linn Creek has enacted a data-center moratorium similar to Camdenton.

• We have been exploring annexation options with Linn Creek since 2022, years before the recent public debate about data centers.

• Long-term utility needs were a major reason for pursuing Linn Creek rather than the previous Camdenton annexation plan. Both cities would need utility improvements to serve the development. Linn Creek’s wastewater treatment facility directly adjoins our eastern property boundary, making proximity an important consideration.

• We also own property inside Camdenton and we will continue to collaborate with both cities.

I support data-center regulations. My concern with the county ordinance is whether its definitions reach beyond data centers and unintentionally restrict schools, manufacturers, resorts and other businesses that rely on technology. I believe those definitions should be clear and targeted while protecting residents.

This week, the City announced its plans to consider the annexation request made by Mo Lake Development.

After posting the announcement to Facebook and receiving a significant amount of feedback, the City posted a follow-up:

We have heard the questions about today's annexation notice, and we would rather answer them than have anyone guess. Annexation moves a boundary line. It does not grant zoning and it does not approve any project. Linn Creek utilizes the Camden County Unified Land Use Code, which we have adopted as our zoning. The City currently has a moratorium on data center development in place, and any use of this property would go through a separate zoning process with its own published notice and its own public hearing. No zoning application has been filed, and nothing has been decided. Encouraging development and extending the city limits are goals our City adopted in our comprehensive plan. The petition is on file, and anyone with a question is welcome to come by City Hall and ask.

The map initially presented by Hodits reveals a wide variety of uses and includes the following elements. With the removal of a data center, the plan would still include the following:

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

• 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.

Subscribe to Take On The Lake, a podcast produced by LakeExpo

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City Of Linn Creek Public Notice

The Board of Aldermen of the City of Linn Creek, Missouri (the “City”) will hold a public hearing at 6:00 p.m. on September 30, 2026 at Linn Creek City Hall, 102 East Valley Drive, Linn Creek, Missouri, pursuant to Section 71.012, RSMo, concerning a proposed voluntary annexation into the City of real estate located in Camden County, Missouri adjoining the corporate limits of the City and bounded in part by Missouri Route 5, U.S. Highway 54 and North Lake Street in Linn Creek, made upon the petition of the owners of all fee interests of record therein.

The Petition for Annexation is on file with the City Clerk at the address above and may be inspected during regular business hours. All interested persons will be given an opportunity to be heard.

Persons needing an accommodation should contact the City Clerk at (573) 346-6200 at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance.

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