Waco, Texas
Waco's owners of record are public but hard to reach in bulk: Baylor University, the City and the county hold the landmarks, a REIT still owns the mall, and the largest taxpayers are warehouses and food plants.
10 buildings · 10 with an owner established · 24 sources · 6 tier A · 4 tier B · prepared 2026-10-21
Texas keeps no public title register; ownership is read from the county appraisal district. The McLennan County Appraisal District (MCAD) names the owner of record, mailing address, legal description and value of every account free on its property-search portal, a JavaScript app. The same roll is republished free by the Texas Geographic Information Office in its StratMap 2026 Land Parcels file under a CC0 public-domain dedication, though its download host refused this research. Deeds are recorded by the McLennan County Clerk. No record holds a price: Texas has no mandatory sales disclosure, and sale prices an appraisal district obtains privately are confidential.
The marquee buildings
The towers that set the tone of the core, and who holds them. A price is the price a document states, on the date it states — not an estimate of what the building is worth now.
| Building | Use | Owner | Owner type | Last price paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McLane Stadium 1001 S Martin Luther King Jr Blvd |
Institutional | Baylor University MCAD account 371919 (via the CC0 StratMap 2026 parcel layer): 'McLane Stadium Lot 1 Block 1', 93.168 acres, owner Baylor University (mailed One Bear Place), 2026 market value $451.8M ($18.6M land, $433.2M improvements) - the highest value found on any account checked in Waco. Wikipedia: owned and operated by Baylor, opened 31 Aug 2014, cost $266 million, 45,140 seats, on the Brazos River beside I-35. |
Institution | —A |
| Foster Pavilion (Baylor basketball arena) 700 S University Parks Dr |
Institutional | Baylor University MCAD account 417889: 'Brazos Riverfront Addition Ph 2 Lot 2 Block 5', 7.051 acres, owner Baylor University, 2026 market value $28.4M. Wikipedia: owner and operator Baylor; opened 2 Jan 2024; the City may hold events there on 25 days a year plus 10 City-booked ticketed shows in its first two years, in return for a TIF contribution (headline titles cited by Wikipedia; articles not read). The City's Oct 2025 Indian Springs agreement gives Waco ISD discounted access 'under the City's rights at these venues'. |
Institution | —A |
| Richland Mall 6001 W Waco Dr 693,777 sq ft (total center) |
Retail | Richland Mall CMBS 2026 LLC 100% (CBL & Associates Properties, 10-K) MCAD account 187685: Richland Hills Lot 16 Block R, 36.183 acres, owner Richland Mall CMBS 2026 LLC mailed Chattanooga, TN (CBL's home city), 2026 market value $29.7M. CBL's FY2025 10-K lists Richland Mall, Waco, opened 1980, 100% owned, 693,777 sq ft, 98% in-line leased, 'Encumbered by the secured term loan'; gross carrying amount $24.8M at 31 Dec 2025. The link from the LLC to CBL rests on the Chattanooga address and the 10-K. Anchor Dillard's holds its own 13.37-acre lot (Dillard Texas Central LLC). 'CBL/Richland Mall, L.P.' was a top-ten taxpayer in 2016 ($43.7M, ACFR). |
REIT | —B |
| ALICO Building 425 Austin Ave |
Office | American-Amicable Life Insurance Company of Texas MCAD account 161130: 'Alico Center Lot A thru F Block 1', 2.6548 acres, owner 'American Amicable Life Ins', 2026 market value $5.8M. Wikipedia: 22 storeys, 282 ft, the tallest building in Waco, built 1910 for $755,000 for the Amicable Life Insurance Company, and 'currently owned and operated by the American-Amicable Life Insurance Company of Texas (a subsidiary of Industrial Alliance)'. The parent link rests on Wikipedia alone. |
Private company | —B |
| Waco Regional Airport (ACT) 7909 Karl May Dr |
Civic | City of Waco Wikipedia: owned by the City of Waco, 1,369 acres, two runways; the WWII field was deeded to local government by the War Assets Administration by 1950. On the roll the City holds account 102400 (Airport Lot 1 Block 6, 1,006.08 acres, marked 'leasehold int on 102401', $2.0M) and 102398 (146.01 acres, $20.2M, with improvements-only account 102399 on it). Owner of 102401 was not read. The ACFR runs the airport as an enterprise fund and records an Airline Use and Lease Agreement with American Airlines to March 2027. |
Government | —B |
| Waco Convention Center and City Hall block 100 Washington Ave / 300 Austin Ave 144,000 sq ft (convention center) |
Civic | City of Waco MCAD account 168429: 'Civic Center Lot 1A Block A, 8.116 acres (City Hall, Convention Cntr)', owner City of Waco, 2026 market value $29.1M; a further City lot at 101 S 3rd St (0.522 acres) adjoins. The City's history page: built with a 1967 bond ($2.25M), opened 1971-72, renovated to 144,000 sq ft by 2012, and 'managed by ASM Global' - a manager, not the owner. City Hall (1930) faces the old Waco Square. The ACFR lists a convention center among City services. Downtown's adopted roadmap proposes a new riverfront convention center. |
Government | —A |
| Magnolia Market at the Silos 601 Webster Ave |
Retail | Magnolia RE LLC MCAD account 405557: 'Magnolia Silos Addition Lot 10 Block 1', 2.72 acres, owner Magnolia RE LLC (mailed Waco), 2026 market value $5.6M. Only this one lot was read; the complex spans other lots whose owners were not checked. Wikipedia: two 120-ft silos built in 1950 for the Brazos Valley Cotton Oil Company, opened to the public in Oct 2015, about 1.2 million visitors in 2016, and a $10.4M expansion announced in 2019 on a 4.9-acre site. Who stands behind Magnolia RE LLC is not stated on the roll; no person is named here. |
Private company | —A |
| McLennan County Courthouse 501 Washington Ave |
Civic | McLennan County MCAD account 172095: 'Farm Lot 6 Lot 26 to 31 Block 6, 1.2765 acres, County Court House', owner McLennan County, 2026 market value $9.5M. Wikipedia (McLennan County): the fourth courthouse, completed 1902 in the Beaux-Arts style by James Riely Gordon. |
Government | —A |
| Extraco Events Center (Heart O' Texas Fair complex) 2001 Lake Air Dr |
Civic | McLennan County MCAD account 405992: 'Coliseum Lot 3 Block 1', 97.28 acres, owner McLennan County, 2026 market value $11.0M. Wikipedia: owner McLennan County; the coliseum was built after county voters approved a $1.2M bond in the early 1950s; the complex covers 50 acres of facilities (the roll lot is larger). |
Government | —A |
| Doris Miller VA Medical Center 4800 Memorial Dr |
Institutional | United States of America (Department of Veterans Affairs) MCAD account 167736: 'Chambers T J Tract 2 Block 1', 130.84 acres, owner of record 'Veterans Hospital', 2026 market value $24.1M. The roll uses the name, not the department; the federal owner is inferred from the hospital's use and is not stated on the account. |
Government | —B |
The core land
The most valuable ground in the city, and what the public record says about it.
Downtown Waco is a small grid on the west bank of the Brazos, where the City holds the civic block and Baylor's riverfront arena sits at its south edge. A 100-acre downtown Strategic Roadmap (Barron's Branch, Waco Square, Mary Ave, Riverfront and Ballpark districts) proposes a riverfront convention center and a shared Waco ISD/City campus. Values are MCAD 2026 market values read from the CC0 StratMap layer, account by account.
Who owns the town
At this scale the significant owner is rarely a trust or a fund: it is one or two local holding companies, a family in its second or third generation, and often the land around the town rather than the buildings in it.
Waco's most valuable ground belongs to a private university, not to a company. Baylor University's stadium lot alone is valued at $451.8M on the 2026 roll, more than any taxpayer's whole holding in the ACFR's list. The City, the County, Waco ISD, the State and the federal government hold the civic estate. Whole-roll counts and acreage could not be computed, because the bulk parcel file refused this research; figures below are single accounts read one point at a time from the CC0 StratMap layer (MCAD data, tax year 2026), so they are examples, not totals. Exempt public property is valued far below cost.
| Name | Type | Accounts read, 2026 roll |
|---|---|---|
| Baylor University Accounts read: McLane Stadium (93.168 acres, $451.8M), Foster Pavilion (7.05 acres, $28.4M), Student Life Center (27.28 acres, $18.1M), the McLean Science Building block (4.17 acres, $22.6M) and a Carroll tract lot on S 3rd St (2.78 acres, $4.7M). Baylor is Waco's largest employer, 5,698 staff in 2025 (ACFR). |
Institution | campus of 1,000 acres (Wikipedia); McLane Stadium lot 93.17 acres, $451.8MA |
| City of Waco Parks acreage from the ACFR's capital-asset schedule. Roll accounts read: Waco Regional Airport (1,006.08 + 146.01 acres), the Civic Center block with City Hall and the Convention Center (8.12 acres, $29.1M), the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame (16.78 acres, $21.3M) and Cameron Park Zoo (47.88 acres). In Oct 2025 the City proposed buying 22.8 acres of the former Indian Springs Middle School from Waco ISD for $32.2M for its downtown redevelopment (City news release; whether it closed was not checked). The City manages tax-foreclosure trust property for itself, the County and Waco ISD. |
Government | 1,782 acres of parks in 69 parks (FY2025); airport 1,152 acres on two accountsB |
| McLennan County Two accounts read. McLennan County employed 1,088 in 2025 (ACFR). |
Government | Extraco Events Center 97.28 acres, $11.0M; courthouse 1.28 acres, $9.5MA |
| Waco Independent School District One account read (4200 Colcord Ave). The district serves most of Waco (Wikipedia) and proposed selling the 22.8-acre Indian Springs site to the City for $32.2M (City, Oct 2025). |
Government | Waco High School 39.43 acres, $73.5MA |
| State of Texas (Texas State Technical College) Account 127883 at 2020 Campus Dr is held in the name 'State of Texas'. Wikipedia places TSTC's flagship campus and headquarters on the former James Connally Air Force Base north of Waco; the roll does not name the college, so the TSTC link is the address and Wikipedia. |
Government | 1,009.57 acres on one account, $4.8MB |
| McLennan Community College One account read, 1400 College Dr. |
Government | 149.75 acres, $21.7MA |
| United States of America Wikipedia: 'the lake is owned by the United States government' and managed by the Army Corps of Engineers; water rights belong to the City and the Brazos River Authority. On the roll: 'Veterans Hospital', 4800 Memorial Dr (130.84 acres, $24.1M), and a 4.93-acre 'United States of America' tract on Steinbeck Bend Rd mailed to Denver. |
Government | Lake Waco (8,190 surface acres); VA hospital 130.84 acresB |
Who builds the houses
New-home building in this market: the volume, and the firms behind it. Ownership of a builder matters as much as its volume — a private-equity platform and a family firm behave differently.
Waco permitted 1,119 new homes in 2025 by the Census Bureau's count: 561 single-family houses ($167.3M of construction value), 31 two-unit buildings (62 units) and 16 buildings of five or more units (496 units). No builder league table for Waco was found, and the bulk roll that would show lots held by each builder could not be downloaded, so no builder is named here rather than guessing from marketing sites.
Commercial landlords
The commercial side, counted separately from housing: who holds the office, retail and industrial floor area.
Waco's largest private taxpayers are warehouses, beverage and food plants and utilities, not landlords. The City's ACFR lists the ten largest taxpayers for tax year 2024 (taxable value, source MCAD): together $1.31B, 8.06% of a $16.28B roll. The only listed retail landlord is the mall owner, which fell out of the top ten after 2015. Owner entities could not be matched to their parcels in bulk.
| Name | Type | Taxable value, tax year 2024 (ACFR) |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com Services, Inc No. 1 taxpayer in 2024; absent from the 2015 list. Whether this is building, land or business personal property is not stated. |
Public company | $282.6M (1.74% of the roll)A |
| USRE Diana LLC No. 2 taxpayer in 2024. Which property it holds and who stands behind it were not established. |
Private company | $142.4M (0.87%)A |
| Refresco Beverages U.S. Inc; Envases Group; Mars Chocolate North America LLC Nos. 3-5: beverage, packaging and confectionery plants. Mars was also No. 1 in 2015 ($72.7M). Sherwin Williams ($97.0M), L-3 Communications Integrated Systems ($91.8M) and Sanderson Farms ($80.7M) complete the industrial list. |
Private company | $138.3M; $135.6M; $133.6MA |
| Oncor Electric Delivery Co LLC; Atmos Energy/Mid-Tex Wires and gas mains rather than land. |
Public company | $116.9M; $92.5MA |
| CBL & Associates Properties (Richland Mall CMBS 2026 LLC) The one REIT-owned retail centre in the city (CBL 10-K). It was No. 9 taxpayer in 2015 ($43.7M as CBL/Richland Mall LP) and is not in the 2024 top ten. 'Inland Western Waco Central, L.P.' ($56.8M) also left the list after 2015; its property and current owner were not established. |
REIT | Richland Mall, 693,777 sq ft; roll value $29.7MB |
Looked for and not found
Claims this page would have made if a source could be opened. They are left out rather than guessed.
- Whole-roll landowner totals (accounts, acres, value) for the City, Baylor, Waco ISD, the County and the federal government; the TxGIO bulk file refused download and the map service allows point lookups only.
- Builders' lot holdings and the largest single-family-rental holders: not computable without the bulk roll.
- Who stands behind Richland Mall CMBS 2026 LLC: the Chattanooga mailing address and CBL's 10-K make CBL the owner, but no filing opened names the LLC. Its name suggests a 2026 mortgage securitisation; that was not checked.
- Which property USRE Diana LLC (No. 2 taxpayer, $142.4M) holds, and whether Amazon's $282.6M is real or business personal property.
- The owner of airport account 102401, on which the City's 1,006-acre account is marked a leasehold interest.
- Whether the City's $32.2M Indian Springs purchase from Waco ISD (proposed Oct 2025) closed.
- Baylor Scott & White - Hillcrest and Ascension Providence: Providence's account (19.9 acres, $31.3M, 'Providence Health Center', mailed Indianapolis, leasehold on account 145293) has a Woodway situs, so it may lie outside Waco; Hillcrest's parcel was not located.
- Magnolia's other Silos lots, and the owner of the downtown Ballpark district land.
- The McLennan County Clerk's deed-copy fees (www.mclennan.gov behind Cloudflare).
Sources
- StratMap Land Parcels (2026 release) collection record: owner, value and location attributes from county appraisal districts, acquisition 2026-09-25, publication 2026-10-01; McLennan County file stratmap26-landparcels_48309_lp.zip — Texas Geographic Information Office (TxGIO), Texas Water Development Board (data: McLennan County Appraisal District) · openA
- StratMap Land Parcels 48 Most Recent map service (identify at single points; source 'McLennan Appraisal District', tax year 2026): owner of record, legal description, acreage, land/improvement/market value per account — Texas Geographic Information Office (TxGIO) · openA
- Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, fiscal year ended 30 Sep 2025 (Principal Property Taxpayers TY2024 and TY2015; Principal Employers; Capital Asset Statistics; American Airlines regulated lease) — City of Waco · openA
- 2026 Mass Appraisal Report ('Texas does not have mandatory sales disclosure'; Government Code Sec. 552.149 sales confidentiality) — Harris Central Appraisal District · openA
- Property Management & Property Sales (FAQ 'Who owns the property?': MCAD keeps ownership information, searchable on its website by address or legal description; tax-foreclosure trust properties of the County, Waco ISD and City) — City of Waco · openA
- CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. Form 10-K for 2025 (Item 2 mall table; Schedule III - Richland Mall, Waco, TX) — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (EDGAR) · openA
- McLane Stadium — Wikipedia · openA
- Foster Pavilion — Wikipedia · openA
- ALICO Building — Wikipedia · openA
- Waco Regional Airport — Wikipedia · openA
- Magnolia Market — Wikipedia · openA
- Extraco Events Center — Wikipedia · openA
- Richland Mall (Texas) — Wikipedia · openA
- Baylor University (campus 1,000 acres) — Wikipedia · openA
- Lake Waco ('the lake is owned by the United States government'; managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) — Wikipedia · openA
- Texas State Technical College (Waco flagship campus, former James Connally AFB) — Wikipedia · openA
- Where Waco Comes Together: A History of the Waco Convention Center — City of Waco · openA
- City Hall (Austin Avenue and 3rd Street, 1930) — City of Waco · openA
- City of Waco and Waco ISD Announce Joint Meeting to Consider Indian Springs Middle School Property Agreement (22.8 acres for $32.2 million) — City of Waco · openA
- Building Permits Survey, places in the South Region, annual 2025 (so2025a.txt): Waco city — U.S. Census Bureau · openA
- McLennan County, Texas (County Courthouse) — Wikipedia · openA
- Downtown Development - Strategic Roadmap (100+ acres; riverfront convention center; consolidated Waco ISD/City campus) — City of Waco · openA
- Tax Increment Financing (TIF) - three zones — City of Waco · openA
- Waco, Texas — Wikipedia · openA