Receiver appointed to run Jaspers' Branson hotels

Management of Branson-based Jaspers Enterprises Inc. hotel properties in Branson now rests in the hands of court-appointed receivers. Also, court records indicate Jaspers Enterprises has tried to sell its Wingate by Wyndham property in Maryland Heights, which already is being operated by a receiver.

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.

The move to name a receiver to manage a Jaspers property is not the first this year.

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 property.

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, 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 proceeds of a sale of the property 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-based law firm Carmody MacDonald PC. Babel did not return calls 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 move was made as a way to ensure the bank’s interests 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 addition to running Jaspers Enterprises, Jaspers also founded and operates Springfield-based nonprofit Rainbow Network to serve communities in Nicaragua.