Well-heeled surfers in New York searching for consistent waves may soon need to look no further than Crest Surf Clubs, which touts itself as the first and only private member surf club in the U.S.
Crest is seeking about $45 million to help support the build-out of its first location on a 3.5-acre site in Shirley, Long Island, founder and CEO Brett Portera told Front Office Sports. If Crest secures funding by the end of the summer, Portera anticipates the New York club will be operational by spring.
The capital raising, which may take the form of convertible debt, comes as Crest collects average initiation fees of about $100,000 from its 500 founding New York members, more than half of which have been sold, says Portera, who began surfing the age of eight. Wedbush Securities is advising Crest Surf Clubs on the capital raising effort, and proceeds may be used to fund future projects, Portera says. Membership fees will be $20,000 a year, on average.
“Our broader vision is to scale Crest,” he says, adding that the company aims to build out as many as 20 standalone private clubs in the U.S., including some that are a part of residential communities. Crest has identified potential sites in Florida, North and South Carolina, Arizona, California, and Texas, and is in discussions with potential development partners for sites in Central America and the Caribbean, Portera says.
Crest members will have access to a luxury clubhouse that includes dining, gym and spa services, co-working space, and importantly, artificial waves in controlled water temperature—meaning they can surf year round. In New York, up to 20 surfers can be in the water in a single session, where about 120 full-size waves as high as 6.5 feet will be generated per hour.
The company’s proprietary wave technology was developed by CTO Alex Poirot, a former engineer at Kelly Slater Wave Co., which pioneered the technology used to make waves at the largely invite-only KSWC Surf Ranch in Leemore, Calif., which is owned by the World Surf League. The same tech is used at Surf Abu Dhabi, where advanced open surf sessions cost around $950 per person.
Surfers have shown they’re increasingly willing to pay for access to man-made waves both in the U.S. and abroad. The Palm Springs Surf Club in California, which is open to the public, offers hour-long sessions for $200, while in Brazil, family memberships to two new clubs featuring wave pools start at roughly $125,000 and $184,000, respectively, according to Bloomberg.
Residential projects helmed by wave pools have gained traction, with Drew Brees and Tony Hawk among those with ties to Austin Surf Club, a Discovery Land Co. development set to include some 140 condominiums. Similarly, Cabo Real Surf Club in Mexico, promises 240 waves per hour and is developing homes that start at $2.5 million.
