Developer fires back at Missouri Baptist Convention

A Springfield developer who claims lengthy litigation between the Missouri Baptist Convention and various breakaway groups has precluded him from developing 940 acres near Lake of the Ozarks is now suing the convention.

Bill Jester, president of Resource Development Inc., owns about 946 acres along the lakefront in Camden County that he has long planned to develop as an upscale subdivision with single-family homes priced from $750,000 to $3 million.

"It's a beautiful, pristine part of the lake," Jester said.

Three parties tangled

The property was previously owned by the Windermere Baptist Conference Center, a corporation whose board voted to leave the convention in 2001. Two years later, the board defaulted on the acquisition loan and conveyed the property to its Ohio-based lender, National City Bank. Jester said his company purchased the land directly from the bank in 2006 for an undisclosed price.

Jester said his plans to develop the property, however, have been delayed as a result of ongoing litigation between MBC and Windermere. The convention filed suit against Windermere and four other breakaway groups in 2002, but Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan in March granted Windermere's motion for summary judgment after six years of legal wrangling.

That judgment basically dismissed the suit in Windermere's favor.

Still pending in Camden County Circuit Court is a separate case filed by the MBC board against Jester that sought a court injunction to expressly prohibit him from developing the land.

Developer's counterclaim

Jester's St. Louis attorney, Burt Shostak, said information published in press reports about the litigation led to a strained relationship between his client and certain lenders who pulled back from financing the lakefront subdivision. Despite the delays, Jester continued paying loan interest on the undeveloped land.

"It has cost him a lot of money," said Shostak, who is a partner at Shostak & Shostak LLC.

In early April, Jester filed a counterclaim against MBC that's pending in Camden County. Shostak said his client is seeking $10 million in damages and any other relief the court may see fit.

Michael Whitehead, a Kansas City attorney representing MBC, said Jester's claim is without merit. He also argued that Jester was required under civil court rules to file any counterclaims within 30 days of being served with the convention's lawsuit in 2006.

"The bottom line for us is that Mr. Jester's companies took title to 1,000 acres of land that the Baptists used to own in February 2006. ... He bought with notice, and he ought to have to wait until the legal issues are resolved on the land that's tied up in a legal dispute," Whitehead said.

Fate of the land

MBC still contends Windermere's board acted illegally and that it is the rightful owner of the property Jester hopes to develop, Whitehead said, noting that his client has appealed Callahan's ruling to the Missouri Court of Appeals.

If MBC wins its appeal, which could take a year, Whitehead said the convention could use the legal victory to bolster its case against Jester's counterclaim in Camden County.

The convention's ultimate hope is that a judge will void Jester's title to the land, Whitehead said.

Shostak said he thinks MBC will have a tough time convincing the appellate court to overturn Callahan's ruling. "I can't believe he missed an issue in that opinion," Shostak said.

Jester is moving forward with plans to rezone the property from camping-recreational use to single-family residential to pave the way for the development's first phase, which will entail 50 to 60 lots. Jester said he's hopeful the Camden County Planning Commission will vote to approve the rezoning request at its May 21 meeting.

This story has been corrected. It originally stated that the Windermere Baptist Conference Center board conveyed its property to Nevada-based City National Bank.