Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Waco Empire Is Causing ‘Violent’ Displacement of Residents
Chip Gaines and Joanna Gaines got their start with HGTV’s Fixer Upper, and they haven’t stopped building their empire ever since. Aside from TV and house flipping, the couple owns Magnolia Market — a shopping complex that spans multiple blocks in Waco, Texas. While the tourist destination boosts the local economy, some locals have talked about the “violent” tax hikes and housing disruptions they’ve experienced.
Do Chip and Joanna Gaines still live in Waco? The ‘Fixer Upper’ couple built a Texas empire
Chip and Joanna Gaines have an entire business empire in Waco, Texas, and a beautiful Victorian mansion in a nearby suburb. The Fixer Upper couple purchased the 1,700-square-foot property located in Crawford, Texas, in 2012, and spent an additional year and a half renovating the property. Before the renovations, Closer Weekly reports the home only had two bedrooms, which wasn’t nearly enough for their five children.
Chip and Joanna spoke to People about where they’d head to if they didn’t live in Waco. “Waco is our meet in the middle spot: half big city, half tropical — maybe not. We talk about it,” Chip said. “We’ve been to Kansas City a lot recently and have just fallen in love with that community. Salt Lake, every time we go there it just kind of really inspires us, obviously New York City for Jo. There are a few cities across the country that we would possibly consider if Waco did not work out.”
A resident described the displacement of locals as ‘violent’
There’s no doubt that Chip and Joanna Gaines have boosted the Waco, Texas, economy with Magnolia Market. Fixer Upper fans from all over head to Waco to check out the goods, eats, and fun that the family has created. But many Waco locals are hurting from how built up the area has become.
Marsha Martie, a pastor of CrossTies, explained to the Houston Chronicle how she’s witnessed families get disassembled due to the rising housing costs and tax hikes. “I look at the kids. They had their grandmother right there next door or down the street — that’s gone,” she explained. “Families and friends who have known each other forever — gone. That destruction of community just tears at my soul. That is absolutely the worse outcome.” She went on to describe the situation as “violent.”
“We have businesses now instead of family homes,” she continued. “We have only a part of one block left that would look like a part of the old neighborhood.”
Despite the negative situation, Martie doesn’t blame the Gaines family. “This is not their fault,” she added. “They moved there but this is capitalism. Private enterprise. It wasn’t the Gaines going around buying houses in our neighborhood — it was others looking to make a profit off the Gaines.”
Is ‘Fixer Upper’ coming back in 2022?
While Waco, Texas, might experience its own housing crisis, Chip and Joanna Gaines have no signs of stopping. The Fixer Upper couple has a new show coming in 2022. Fixer Upper: The Castle is set to premiere on Oct. 14, 2022, according to TV Insider.
Additionally, their other shows from the Magnolia Network hit HBO Max on Sept. 30, 2022. They included Fixer Upper: Welcome Home, Magnolia Table with Joanna Gaines, The Lost Kitchen, Growing Floret, Family Dinner with Andrew Zimmern, Restoration Road with Clint Harp, Maine Cabin Masters, and Fixer Upper.
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