Austin Surf Club, the private surf community that Kelly Slater and Discovery Land Company are developing southeast of Austin, has been stalled since April 2026. Contractor liens that totaled $4.6 million in April had passed $16 million by July, and the landowners have petitioned for a special tax district to help pay for infrastructure, including roads, utilities and wastewater systems.
How the pause unfolded
The Real Deal, citing the Austin Business Journal, reported on 29 April 2026 that construction had paused as the project faced $4.6 million in construction liens, filed by seven businesses since early March. The developer declined to give a restart timeline. The next day the Austin American-Statesman reported that the ownership group, Austin Surf Club Venture LP, had confirmed construction was pausing, and that the seven companies claim to have gone unpaid for work finished in late 2025 and early 2026.
By 1 July, The Real Deal reported at least $11.6 million in additional construction liens, bringing the total past $16 million, and said it was unclear whether any of the liens had been resolved. Its headline described the project as looking to restart construction.
The tax district
The larger development is the financing plan. The landowners petitioned to create a municipal management district, a special taxing district whose property tax revenue from the development would help fund infrastructure, including roads, utilities and wastewater systems. The text of the petition put the needed infrastructure at about $171 million, The Real Deal reported. The controlling entities also filed paperwork seeking the development's removal from Austin's extraterritorial jurisdiction.
What was planned
The community sits on about 330 acres in Del Valle, on the site where NLand Surf Park operated until it closed in 2018. It broke ground in January 2025 around a 2,200-foot Kelly Slater Wave Co basin, the same technology as the Surf Ranch in Lemoore and Surf Abu Dhabi. Discovery Land's page lists 178 private residences, though The Real Deal's April report gave 147, and memberships have been reported at $1.25 million.
Access is private, for owners and members, so there are no public sessions.
Good to Know
For a buyer, the question is timing and exposure. As of July it was unclear whether any of the liens had been resolved, and a tax district would add a long-term cost to property inside it. Anyone with a deposit or contract here should ask the developer directly how the liens are being handled and what the district would add to annual property taxes.
For surfers in Texas, nothing changes today. Waco Surf is the only open surf lagoon in Texas in our directory, and Cannon Beach near Dallas is targeting late 2027. Austin Surf Club's own opening has no date. Our opening tracker lists it under projects with no credible date, and the real-estate page has the development details.
