LAKE OZARK, Mo. — The Dam Rooster Gift Shop has sold. It was on the market 36 days, suggesting that buying is brisk business on Lake Ozark’s Bagnell Dam Strip. Jonathan R. Hartenstein with Keller Williams agrees.
“Interest rates are low, inventory is good, and the market is poised for an explosion,” Hartenstein says, and not just on the Strip. Spec homes being built in Villages at Shawnee Bend are selling immediately. More important perhaps is the fact that Big Box stores are investing in Lake Ozark and Osage Beach.
Hartenstein knows that such stores complete feasibility studies before adding a new location. Those feasibility studies must tell investors that Lake of the Ozarks “is poised for growth,” according to Hartenstein. He noted that Lake of the Ozarks now offers a Bed, Bath and Beyond, Dierbergs Lakeview Pointe, Menards, Kohl’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Wehrenberg Eagle’s Landing, all built in the last three years. The Eagle’s Landing development predicts a new business opening each quarter in the coming year.
What makes the Bagnell Dam Strip a good investment, according to Hartenstein, is an old truth voiced by Mark Twain: “Buy land, they’re not making it anymore.” In other words, the Strip is a defined space--defined by tradition, expectation, and geography. It is a place where major events take place. It is a place people once visited as children and return to as adults. It is a place with access to late night entertainment, restaurant choices, shopping, and scenic views of the dam.
The Strip is also a place where “good bargains” still exist, and that is why The Dam Rooster sold, why George Tucker bought and renovated a place for the restaurant Tucker’s Shuckers, and why Mark Brick added Salsa on the Strip to the dining options. The abandoned Campbell Restaurant and Hotel is receiving new attention, and a new waterfront bar and grill, The Lab Rat, has been hiring. New to Luby’s Plaza, the Wrightous Retro Arcade offers family fun.
Lake Ozark Parking Improvement Group (LOPIG) is another new addition. It is a collaboration of Strip business owners to insure the future of the Strip. In only the first three months of the group’s existence, it has already added 90 parking spaces and is working with the State legislators in the hope of creating a community improvement district.
Dave at Lake of the Ozarks Radio remembers coming to the Strip 50 years ago when seaplanes buzzed overhead and the Tom Sawyer was busy all day. He’d like to see the Strip that busy again. His listeners report they’d like to see momentum in family-oriented businesses on the Strip.
With a relatively low tax rate and a good standard of living, Lake of the Ozarks is still an excellent place for both residential and commercial investment. Hartenstein is optimistic about the future at the Lake. Changes along the Bagnell Dam Strip suggest his optimism is warranted.
