Investor wins prime area property with $4.3M bid

After a lively bidding war, high-profile local real estate investor Nate Paul is the new owner of a prime piece of property with frontage on Barton Springs Road in Central Austin.

Paul, who resides in the Barton Creek neighborhood, bought the 2.1-acre property at 511 Barton Blvd. through an online auction Thursday with a winning bid of $4.3 million, edging out Austin-based River City Capital Partners LLC in the final round.

The property boasts views of downtown Austin, Lady Bird Lake and Zilker Park, and has been in the same family for 83 years. Before being auctioned by Concierge Auctions, Joe Longton of Kuper Sotheby’s International Realty had the property listed for $4.5 million.

Paul, founder and CEO of World Class Holdings, told the American-Statesman he is paying cash for the property with his personal funds and said the property will be for his personal use. The closing is set for Jan. 2. Paul attended the auction clad in blue jeans and a Yankees ballcap.

Concierge, a global auction firm based in New York with offices in Austin, described the property as a “hidden gem” — “impossibly rare and auspiciously positioned.”

Longton said the property attracted strong interest from the development community and wealthy individuals looking for a one-of-a-kind residential homesite.

A deposit of $100,000 was required to participate in the auction, and the minimum bid was set at $1 million.

“We had a highly energetic field of 19 bidders wanting this rare property,” said Dean Poole, director of broker relations for Concierge Auctions. “Local CEOs, professional sports figures, wellknown developers and Holly-