The Timeshares Are Coming Down: Developer To Demolish Old Condos As Oasis Amusement Park Plows Ahead

It was an unpleasant surprise, when the Oasis amusement complex development team led by Jeff Tegethoff met with resistance over the acquisition of the Lakewood Resort timeshares, which stood square in the middle of Tegethoff’s plans to excavate and develop two side-by-side peninsulas on Lake of the Ozarks into an entertainment complex, indoor waterpark, and Marriott hotel and conference center.

Tegethoff and his team had initially offered $4.5 million to buy the buildings and more than 2,000 timeshare deeds connected to it. The timeshare board countered with $8 million plus $2 million in closing allowances. Tegethoff agreed to that counter-offer, but the board rejected it.

Then the legal battle began, and Tegethoff began buying timeshare deeds. One at a time.

By December 2023, he owned more than 400 of the 2,548 total deeds, making him the largest voting entity across the entire timeshare organization. Through the process, Tegethoff said, he discovered that even the Lakewood Resort building that burned down in 2013 still had active deeds. To sell Lakewood Resort and effectively end the timeshare organization, it would require a 75% Yes vote, Tegethoff told LakeExpo. So he kept buying.

However, he revealed, the clock was ticking: not just on the Oasis project, but on the timeshares. He said these timeshares were not set-up in perpetuity, and in less than 10 years, they would have expired, leaving hundreds of owners with a worthless piece of paper.

By the summer of 2024, Tegethoff and the timeshare board were working more amicably; he publicly thanked them, at the Oasis groundbreaking ceremony in May.

Jeff Tegethoff - Oasis Groundbreaking.JPG

And finally, in October, Tegethoff says, the question of liquidating Lakewood Resort was put to a vote. In all, he said, only about 100 timeshare holders declined to vote (those were counted as “No”s) and only 12 timeshare holders voted “No” (less than 0.5%, he pointed out). The rest voted Yes.

Now, he said, all the deed transfers have been sent to the remaining owners, payment is being remitted to the title company, and the demo permits have been submitted.

Oasis At Lakeport - Full Project Aerial — LakeExpo.com

With a visible blend of relief and accomplishment, Tegethoff told a roomful of Lake area real estate professionals on Oct. 8, “The timeshares are coming down this month.”

The demolition of Lakewood Resort is critical, he explained in an interview with LakeExpo, because the main utility connections for the timeshare buildings cut across the job site — both above and below ground. So blasting and excavating can’t continue until those are all disconnected and the buildings come down.

“We’ve run out of work to do until they come down,” he said plainly.

However, he said with confidence, the buildings will be demolished this month. And in spite of that unexpected delay, Tegethoff says the project is still on schedule: the amusement park and restaurants are expected to open in late-2025, with the hotel and conference center opening in 2026.