Blake Hess is the COO of Beach Street Development, the market leader in surf park development and operations. Blake joined Beach Street in early 2021 after working as the General Manager of the world-famous Kelly Slater Surf Ranch, owned by the World Surf League.  Blake was tasked with transforming the Kelly Slater R&D facility into a full-blown profitable guest-oriented business. Despite a worldwide pandemic in 2020, Blake led Surf Ranch to its best season ever, setting new benchmarks in finance and guest survey metrics. Prior to operating the Surf Ranch, Blake ran the NLand Surf Park in Austin, Texas, then the largest surf park in the United States.

Blake has 30 years of experience as an athlete, founder, and innovator in the action sports industry.  A former professional wakeboarder and water-skier, Blake co-founded Texas Ski Ranch (TSR) in 2000. TSR is an action sports complex that includes a wake park, skate park, Burton LTR (learn to ride) snowboard park, trampoline park and much more.  During this time Blake was recognized by the Water Sports Industry Association (WSIA) for numerous awards including: the nation’s top boat dealership (Wake Zone), best wake park (TSR), best retail shop (Board Shop) and most importantly the Larry Meddockc Award, given to an individual who has gone above and beyond to promote the towed water sports industry.

Blake has an abundance of experience in action sports ranging from marketing, to organizing and judging world competitions, to creating and managing parks. The lessons learned from these opportunities make Blake one of the most experienced individuals in the world of human-made surf destinations and action sports parks.