The Toy Box: Lake Ozark Developer Reveals Plans For The Corner Of Bagnell Dam Blvd & Horseshoe Bend

LAKE OZARK, Mo. — Bulldozers have been busy on one of the most visible undeveloped properties in Lake Ozark, and the Lake community has been wondering what’s planned for the long-vacant lot. On Wednesday, Mayor Dennis Newberry spoke to Lake Expo about the developer’s plans.

The development, dubbed The Toy Box, will include what are sometimes called “man-caves”: essentially, high-end units that include a garage space to store a boat, RV, or vehicle as well as a loft and living space for each unit. The living spaces will be 1-bedroom, 1-bathroom with a kitchenette. Tenants at The Toy Box will have access to onsite amenities including a pool, indoor and outdoor pickleball courts, and a dog park.

The Toy Box will encompass the lower — currently excavated — portion of the property, while the upper 8.5 acres (which includes the lot next to Baxter’s that is often used for overflow parking and as a scenic overlook) are listed for sale separately, at a price of $4.5 million.

Newberry says the owner is a successful commercial developer from Iowa. “He’s built millions of square feet in commercial space,” he said, praising the owner’s character and calling him “a humble guy.”

The owner bought this property approximately five years ago, knowing he could also develop it, Newberry said. But the owner wanted to open the property to other developers who might want to build a major attraction. Newberry’s real estate company, Lake Ozark Realty, currently represents the property (he noted the property has been represented and promoted by at least eight different real estate companies over the past 25 years.) He says some developers did come in with potential ideas: among them, a multi-use indoor sporting facility and a hotel. But after doing due-diligence, those developers had concerns about returns on investment and quality of staffing, Newberry said. So ultimately the property owner decided to develop it himself.

While renderings are not available for public viewing yet, Newberry said preliminary renderings reveal this development will not look like a storage unit facility: “What renderings we have, they don’t look like storage sheds: they look like commercial buildings like you’d see in a modern city storefront. They look very high quality.”

He said renderings would likely be released to the public by the end of the year.

The property is mostly zoned for Commercial use, and Newberry said the developer’s plans conform to city standards for that, noting the developer does not need any special consideration from the city in order to build The Toy Box.

The entrance to the property will be the entrance to the former Blue Heron; Newberry noted that entrance is a county road easement.

On Wednesday, Newberry also took to Facebook to refute reports that the developer was looking to the city for tax-related incentives. He wrote: “Yesterday KRMS reported the city of Lake Ozark would be considering a site plan for a proposed development at HH & BDB that includes a TIF, CID & TDD. This information is 100% false, the applicant/owner has never requested or considered any of the above incentives for his development. I encourage everyone to come to tonight’s P&Z meeting to learn of the proposed development and the city of Lake Ozark’s role in the process.”