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Bob Foos
A three-year dispute over 20 acres on the fast-growing east edge of Webb City may be coming to a resolution.
Until noon, Friday, April 26, real estate agent Gil Stevens will be accepting written offers to purchase the property from the owner, 3rd Row Entertainment. Stevens had a three-month listing for the property, but it is not listed now.
To inquire about making an offer, contact Gil Stevens, gil_stevens@yahoo.com, (417) 437-1061.
The 20.26 acres adjacent the railroad tracks were sold for $20.25 on Jan. 31, 2020, to 3rd Row Entertainment by the Webb City Council, on behalf of the city.
The deal was similar to other transactions the city has made to entice development of the area north of the roundabout.
According to the city, in order to get such a deal 3rd Row Entertainment agreed to build an entertainment complex, including a movie theater and restaurant, within one year.
Then the pandemic hit. Nobody was going to the movies, and it was understood 3rd Row would need more time to start construction.
Nearly three years after the sale contract, Webb City took 3rd Row Entertainment to court on Jan. 9, 2023, seeking return of the property.
On Feb. 10, 2023, 3rd Row Entertainment filed a counterclaim against the city for breach of contract and against City Administrator Carl Francis for fraud.
Tee Time, the golf facility spanning an area south of East Daugherty Street to East Street, which is nearing completion, became a factor in the dispute between the city and 3rd Row Entertainment in the summer of 2021, according to the counterclaim.
The counterclaim alleges that when Francis became aware 3rd Row Entertainment was offering to sell the property to Tee Time for $50,000 per acre he demanded that 3rd Row immediately transfer the deed to Tee Time.
Instead, an alternative site for Tee Time had become available. By April 2021, the city had acquired and was planning to clear the old G&H Redi-Mix site on East Daugherty Street.
In his April 29, 2022, Joplin Globe column, Wally Kennedy reported that two 3rd Row Entertainment investors, George Michalopoulos, of Joplin, and Kaleb Marti, of Jasper, had announced plans to build their own golf facility on the disputed property.
The Planning and Zoning Commission granted Tee Time’s special use permit for the G&H site on July 18, 2022.
Hearings in the court case have been continuously delayed, while it is assumed the attorneys for both parties are seeking an agreement involving the sale of the property to end the stalemate.
Webb City and its insurance carrier are represented by City Attorney Troy Salchow and Rachel Riso. Glenn Gulick Jr., with Johnson, Vorhees & Martucci, is representing 3rd Row Entertainment.
Regarding who eventually gets the property, Francis says the city would “like to see it get into the hands of somebody that will use it.”
The Webb City Sentinel isn’t a newspaper – but it used to be, serving Webb City, Missouri, in print from 1879-2020. This “newspaper” seeks to carry on that tradition as a nonprofit corporation.
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