A Wave Pool in Los Angeles? Billionaire Plans South Bay Surf Park

Vinny Smith, the financier of the Palm Springs Surf Club, has purchased a plot of land in El Segundo for $54 million, with plans of bringing a wave pool to LA, according to commercial real estate site CoStar.

“You have so much coastline and so much density of population and the popularity of the sport, and at the same time, [beaches] have issues with parking, too many people in the water and contamination levels from rain runoff and sewage breaks,” said Chris Maling, a South Bay commercial real estate tracker.

Shitty waves, shitty water. Yet many surfers. The answer? A wave pool.

In the El Segundo area already, there’s a sprawling Topgolf facility, a Porsche test-driving experience center and, of course, the headquarters of the World Surf League. Down the street, there’s the popular surf spot – more of a glorified, overcrowded closeout on most days – El Porto. Why surf there, when you could surf manmade perfection?

As for the schedule on the South Bay surf park’s construction, that remains vague.

CoStar added: “The timeline for the El Segundo project is unclear. Large-scale developments in Los Angeles — even those with backing from well-heeled investors and local government — face a gantlet [sic] of challenges including sky-high construction and labor costs and interest rates, as well as community opposition.”

Stay tuned.