World Class Capital Group

[We vs us]

Holy wow. FBI just raided Nate Paul.

The FBI on Aug. 14 raided the offices of World Class Holdings, a high-flying real estate firm that has amassed a head-turning amount of property over the past decade.

Federal investigators visited the offices of Nate Paul's commercial real estate company near Ninth and Lavaca streets, according to multiple sources, including one with inside knowledge of World Class' business. These sources asked not to be named to discuss the sensitive topic. The FBI also visited Frost Bank Tower, where World Class had office space until May.

Austin Business Journal reporters also visited the office at Ninth and Lavaca, the historic Hirshfeld House and Cottage, and found FBI agents inside.

FBI Special Agent Michelle Lee confirmed that the agency conducted a law enforcement operation in the vicinity of Congress Avenue and Fourth Street on the morning of Aug. 14. The Frost Bank Tower address is 401 Congress Ave. The spokeswoman told KXAN News she could not discuss what the FBI was doing but said there was no immediate threat to the public.

Daryl Fields, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in San Antonio, said he was "aware of what's going on" in Austin but declined to comment. Sources told KXAN a federal investigation has been going on for at least a year.

Multiple sources also told KXAN News that turnover has been high at World Class in the past year, including the departures of at least two senior executives in the last eight months.

Paul did not respond to an ABJ request for comment.

Paul is a lightning rod on the real estate scene. The native Austinite founded World Class in 2007 and got his start investing in self-storage facilities, investing in millions of dollars worth of real estate.

He has since invested in high-profile properties such as the IHOP restaurant site downtown at the corner of Cesar Chavez Street and the I-35 frontage road and the old Carmelo's restaurant site at 504 E. Fifth St. In February, Paul told ABJ he controlled 1.2 million square feet in Austin spread across buildings from downtown — including the historic Phillips Building near Fifth and Brazos streets and the Capital Grille building on West Fourth Street — to the urban periphery.

Paul has run into some financial troubles recently. A prominent site he owns in downtown Austin, 99 Trinity St. at the intersection of Cesar Chavez, was nearly foreclosed on in May.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...in-austin.html