Billionaire David Bonderman swoops in to buy Nate Paul’s downtown Austin site

Billionaire-connected entity agrees to purchase downtown parcels for $95M

David Bonderman and Nate Paul with the Austonian tower (Aucegypt, Google Maps)
David Bonderman and Nate Paul with the Austonian tower (Aucegypt, Google Maps)

UPDATED, 12:51 p.m., April 21: Move over, Nate Paul. Billionaire David Bonderman is in the house.

An entity connected to Bonderman’s Wildcat Capital Management is in contract to purchase a downtown Austin development site for $95 million. The site is owned by an entity connected to Paul’s World Class Holdings, but amid ongoing litigation a court-appointed receiver has been tasked to liquidate the entity’s assets.

The 54,000-square-foot site, on two sides of The Austonian condo tower, is zoned for a development of up to 1 million square feet, the Austin Business Journal reported. World Class purchased the parcels in 2012 for just over $15.6 million, according to the publication.

The deal will require approval from a Travis County judge.

Paul, a real estate investor and developer, quickly amassed a multibillion-dollar real estate empire before he turned 30. But he’s been hit with multiple foreclosures and bankruptcies, plus a raid by the FBI in 2019. Last month, he told The Real Deal last month that he’s planning to rebuild his empire after selling off the majority of his self-storage properties out of bankruptcy.

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Related Companies, the developer of New York’s Hudson Yards, reportedly agreed to buy the ground lease for one of the parcels last year, according to the Business Journal, though it was unclear if that was finalized.

Bonderman is a founding partner of private equity giant TPG Capital and co-owner of NHL’s Seattle Kraken.

[ABJ] — Kathryn Hardison

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Correction: A previous version of this story mischaracterized the status of ownership of the site.