Keith and Karen Jaspers, the founders of Springfield-based nonprofit Rainbow Network, no longer manage the three hotels they own through Jaspers Enterprises Inc.
Management of Branson-based Jaspers Enterprises hotel properties in Branson now rests in the hands of court-appointed receivers. Court records also indicate Jaspers Enterprises has tried to sell its Wingate by Wyndham property in Maryland Heights, which already was placed under a court-appointed receiver earlier this year.
Jefferson City-based Hawthorn Bank filed a breach of contract lawsuit May 7 against Jaspers Enterprises in St. Louis County Circuit Court, and on the same day, Circuit Court Judge Barbara Wallace granted a request to appoint Salisbury, Md.-based hotel management company Marshall Hotels & Resorts Inc. receiver of Jaspers Enterprises’ Days Inn and Howard Johnson hotels in Branson.
On Jan. 31, two weeks before Jaspers Enterprises filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Midas Hospitality LLC was named a receiver of Jaspers Enterprises’ St. Louis-area hotel.
On April 30, Jaspers Enterprises submitted an application to employ real estate agent Steven Marx of Chicago-based Hotel Source Inc. to sell the Wingate by Wyndham in Maryland Heights, according to court records. Judge Charles Rendlen III granted the application, but Marx said he was never hired to list the hotel.
On May 30, the attorney for Jaspers Enterprises made a motion to enter into an agreement with the Bank of Missouri to split the property’s sale proceeds to cover the lien should a buyer come forward.
Both co-owner Keith Jaspers and the company’s bankruptcy attorney, Robert Eggmann of Clayton-based Desai Eggmann Mason LLC, declined to comment on the suit or the status of the bankruptcy filing.
According to court records filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court, Hawthorn Bank is represented by Tina Babel of St. Louis law firm Carmody MacDonald PC. Babel did not return interview requests by deadline.
Marshall Hotels President and CEO Mike Marshall confirmed that his company is managing the hotels’ operations in accordance with the receivership. He said the firm has been named a receiver roughly 20 times since 1990, but this is the first time it has been enlisted by Hawthorn Bank.
“As receiver, we are responsible for the operation of the property,” Marshall said.
He said the move was made as a way to ensure the bank’s interest in the property is protected.
The bankruptcy petition lists fewer than 50 creditors for Jaspers Enterprises, including claims of $391,760 to Days Inn Worldwide, $252,706 to Wingate Inns International Inc. and $155,039 to Howard Johnson International. Jaspers Enterprises’ liabilities are estimated at $1 million to $10 million, and its assets are estimated at $10 million to $50 million.
In a March interview, Keith Jaspers said a lack of booked business during the economic downturn led the company to file for bankruptcy reorganization. As of June 14, a reorganization plan had not been filed with the courts.
In 1995, the Jaspers founded the Rainbow Network, a faith-based nonprofit which today serves 102 communities in Nicaragua, according to
RainbowNetwork.org.
