Waco Surf, once a struggling wave pool in Central Texas, has become a year-round sold-out destination, and its co-owners David Taylor and Luke Schock are now planning Desperado, a 400-acre surf-anchored ranch community. The story is detailed in the latest episode of The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie and published May 27, 2026.
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. A key insight is the shift in customer base: 99% of current visitors have never touched an ocean wave, flipping from 99% professional surfers to 99% Texas families. This demographic change reframes Waco as a surprising tourism and real estate story.
The Desperado masterplan includes a second surf pool, a 13-hole golf course, a hot springs resort, pickleball, and dirt-only roads. Taylor and Schock explain why they refused to copy the private, gated model used by other surf communities. As Schock puts it: "It's a community for people that want high access but not high walls. That's because we believe that the magic happens when you're sitting on the beach talking to the guy that, you know, it's his bucket list to come there." Deposits on Desperado homes 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.
Taylor adds that the migration of Waco itself has been 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.
The episode is available now wherever podcasts are heard. For more on The Building Texas Show, hosted by Justin McKenzie, visit thebuildingtexasshow.com.
