Question 1

Is Waco's employer base durable enough to underwrite a stabilized asset for permanent debt?

Accepted Answer

Yes for the tenant demand, and it's institutional rather than cyclical. Baylor University carries 5,698 employees against roughly 19,858 students, Ascension Providence and Baylor Scott and White Hillcrest run 2,518 and 2,283 respectively, and a VA medical center (886) plus a VA regional office (796) sit alongside Waco ISD (2,373), the City (1,522), and McLennan County (1,088). Total metro nonfarm employment was 141,794 in June 2026, up just 0.2% from 141,574 a year earlier, so this is a flat-payroll market, not a growth story. Underwrite the asset to what that base already supports, not to projected job growth.

Question 2

Does Baylor's shrinking enrollment change how a campus-adjacent asset underwrites for permanent debt?

Accepted Answer

It's worth naming, and it doesn't undercut the employer base. Baylor's Fall 2025 headcount was 19,858, down from 20,626 in Fall 2024, a 3.7% one-year drop. That's more a student-rental story than a permanent-debt one: Baylor's 5,698 employees and its role as the metro's largest employer don't depend on headcount growth the way a purpose-built student housing pro forma does. If the asset you're refinancing leans on student rent rolls rather than institutional tenancy, size the exit to a shrinking, not growing, campus.

Question 3

What cap rate and vacancy data exists for Waco commercial property?

Accepted Answer

There isn't one, and we'd rather tell you that than make one up. No metro-level cap rate, vacancy, or absorption figure for Waco commercial property turned up in our research. That means a permanent loan here gets placed on the lease terms, tenant credit, and rent roll actually in front of us, not on a market comp we can't source. If your asset needs to stabilize before it qualifies for permanent debt, a bridge loan can carry it there first.

Question 4

How does the McLennan County tax stack factor into stabilized NOI on a Waco asset?

Accepted Answer

About 2.25 percent of assessed value inside the city, with no homestead exemption on investment property, and it's rising. The 2025 adopted stack for a City of Waco address is county 0.334805 plus McLennan Community College 0.131974 plus city 0.755000 plus Waco ISD 1.026600, or 2.2484 per $100. McLennan County proposed a 6-cent increase for tax year 2026, about 17.9% higher, citing sheriff, jail, and salary costs. Unincorporated China Spring runs a lower 1.4487 stack with no city tax. Talk to your CPA about how that carries across a long-term hold, and confirm the ISD on the parcel's appraisal account before you lock a stabilized NOI figure.

Question 5

Beyond Baylor and healthcare, what commercial tenant base does Waco's economy support for a permanent loan?

Accepted Answer

A real industrial and logistics spine, though we can't size it with local vacancy or rent data. Sanderson Farms (1,200), Mars Wrigley Confectionery (885), L3Harris (843), AbbVie (747), Cargill Value Added Meats (603), the SpaceX rocket test facility in McGregor (590 per the local economic development office), and distribution operations for Tractor Supply (585), Sherwin Williams (400), and Caterpillar (300) sit alongside the medical and education anchors. That's a diversified base for small-bay flex and warehouse product, but no metro-level industrial vacancy or rent figure exists in our research, so we underwrite the specific tenant and lease in front of us rather than a market comp.

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