Inside Waco Surf’s Sold-Out Wave Pool and the 400-Acre Desperado Build

The latest episode of The Building Texas Show, published May 27, 2026 and hosted by Justin McKenzie, features Waco Surf co-owners David Taylor and Luke Schock on how they turned a struggling Central Texas wave pool into a year-round sold-out destination, and why their next move is Desperado, a 400-acre surf-anchored ranch community. With 99% of surfers at the park having never touched an ocean wave, the conversation reframes Waco as one of the most surprising tourism and real estate stories in Texas.

The episode traces the full arc of the business, from a 2018 pilot of American Wave Machines technology at the original Barefoot Ski Ranch under Stuart Parsons, to Taylor and Schock’s 2021 acquisition, to today’s expansion plans. Listeners can expect specifics on:

• How the customer base flipped from 99% professional surfers to 99% Texas families
• The Desperado masterplan: a second surf pool, a 13-hole golf course, a hot springs resort, pickleball, and dirt-only roads
• Why Waco, sitting between Dallas, Austin, and Houston, is being repositioned as the heart of a new Texas surf culture

Taylor and Schock explain why they refused to copy the private, gated model used by other surf communities opening worldwide. As Schock puts it on the episode:

Taylor adds that the migration of Waco itself has been just as dramatic, recounting how Tony Hawk quietly shows up at the local skate park at 7 a.m., films himself, and draws 200 people within fifteen minutes. The pair also dig into Waco history, including the 1952 tornado that derailed the city’s run at becoming the financial hub of Texas and pushed that growth toward Fort Worth. They cite the Hippodrome on Austin Avenue, where Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin once performed, as evidence of the city’s pre-tornado vibrancy, and point to today’s Baylor graduates staying to open restaurants and buy real estate alongside the Magnolia-driven Chip and Joanna Gaines effect. Deposits on Desperado homes, Taylor notes, are overwhelmingly from Texas-based families, with one exception: a Hawaii native whose family lives in New York and wants a centrally located meeting place.

About The Building Texas Show

The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, profiles the founders, operators, and developers shaping the future of Texas. Each episode digs into how real businesses get built across the state, from hospitality and tourism to real estate and community development, with candid conversations about strategy, capital, and culture. This episode with David Taylor and Luke Schock of Waco Surf and Desperado is available now wherever podcasts are heard.

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