Boat Storage at Lake of the Ozarks: A 2-Acre Exit Site

The Lake of the Ozarks is a boating lake first. It covers about 94 square miles with roughly 1,150 miles of shoreline, more than 25,000 private docks and about 73 marinas, according to Ameren Missouri’s shoreline management plan. Every one of those boats needs somewhere to go when it’s off the water, and secure boat storage at Lake of the Ozarks is hard to find near the highway.

Seasonal owners, weekend visitors and commercial users all want the same thing: a simple, safe place to keep a boat and its trailer. Broadwater Bay is a 2-acre site built for that. It sits on a Highway 54 exit in Osage Beach, a quarter mile from the lake, and drivers see it from both directions.

2 acresOn a Highway 54 exit

1/4 mileTo Lake of the Ozarks

Both waysVisible to freeway traffic

Boating Is Big Business

Boat storage serves a large, steady market. Americans had 11.6 million registered or documented boats in 2023, and retail spending on recreational boating reached $55.6 billion in 2024, according to the National Marine Manufacturers Association.

11.6MRegistered or documented U.S. boats, 2023

$55.6BU.S. retail spending on recreational boating, 2024

2.5MEstimated visitors to the Lake each year

The Lake takes a big share of that traffic. It draws an estimated 2.5 million visitors a year, according to Russell Burdette of the Tri-County Lodging Association, as reported by LakeExpo, and seasonal and weekend boat traffic is heavy.

Developers are already building around boaters. In January, LakeExpo reported that Angler’s Outpost, a lodging project for anglers on Osage Beach Parkway near Route KK, was expected to open in fall 2026 with secure boat parking for guests. When a resort plans around where people put their boats, that tells you the need is real.

Why Boat Storage at Lake of the Ozarks Belongs at an Exit

Broadwater Bay has three things going for it as a boat storage site.

Aerial view of Broadwater Bay with the 2-acre lot outlined at the Highway 54 exit — Broadwater Bay, outlined, at the Highway 54 exit

People see it
The lot sits directly on the exit, so drivers in both directions see it as they come up on it. A storage facility doesn’t get better advertising than that.
Trailers get in and out
Access is simple and direct, with easy pull-through for trucks towing boats and trailers.
The water is close
It’s a quarter mile from Lake of the Ozarks, so customers can pick up a boat or WaveRunner and be on the water quickly.

Build Up, Not Out

Two acres is small, and the ground isn’t flat. With the right design, both of those become advantages.

A three- to six-story storage building fits here. The lower floors go into the slope and the upper floors rise above it, so the hill does some of the work. A building that tall, right on the exit, could be seen from both directions of the freeway, which most storage facilities never get. Going vertical also adds rentable space without needing more land, because every floor repeats the same footprint.

Pick a height to see how the building sits on the slope:

3 stories 4 stories 5 stories 6 stories

3 floors of storage on one footprint, with the top floor above the road.4 floors of storage on one footprint, with 2 above the road.5 floors of storage on one footprint, with 3 above the road.6 floors of storage on one footprint, with 4 above the road where both directions of traffic see them.

Set into the slope
Above road grade
Hillside

A diagram of the concept, not a site plan. How many floors sit below road grade depends on the final design and a survey of the lot.

Rendering of a watercraft storage facility at Broadwater Bay

Starting a Boat Storage Business

If you’re thinking about starting a boat storage business, start with the land. You can design a better building later. You can’t move an exit.

The exit

Exit visibility can’t be copied somewhere else, which is why those sites hold their value.

The lake

A quarter mile from the water keeps demand steady through the season.

The building

A vertical design gets the most rentable space out of 2 acres.

The site can earn by being built out and rented, or be held and resold as part of a larger portfolio. Talk to your accountant and lender about which fits your plans.

Not Set on Boat Storage?

The same visibility and closeness to the lake work for other projects, and we’ve had renderings made for a few of them.

Rendering of a regional operations and training center at Broadwater Bay — Regional operations and training center

Rendering of the Broadwater Bay Hotel — Broadwater Bay Hotel

Rendering of an auto and powersports hub at Broadwater Bay — Auto and powersports hub

The owner is motivated and open to your ideas. Tell us what you’d build here, and we’ll have new renderings made that show Broadwater Bay in that setting.

Pitch your idea

See the Flyover

The aerial video, the gallery and the renderings for every use are on the Broadwater Bay property page.

View the Broadwater Bay property page

More on Osage Beach Parkway

Broadwater Bay is one of four properties in our portfolio of Lake of the Ozarks commercial real estate, which together are valued at about $10 to $11 million. We covered why frontage on this road is so scarce in our post on Lake of the Ozarks land for sale along Highway 54.