Key figure in Paxton scandal owns S.A. property
Nate Paul, the Austin-based real estate investor at the center of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s current scandal, has a toehold in San Antonio, including ownership of the firm that padlocked the popular dance club Midnight Rodeo in 2019.
Entities linked to Paul’s World Class Holdings own at least two shopping centers and about 120,000 square feet of warehouse space in the area. The properties’ combined value is more than $23 million, the Bexar Appraisal District reports.
Midnight Rodeo owners shut down the club at 12260 Nacogdoches Road on Sept. 20, 2019, after WC Thousand Oaks Center LP — an affiliate of World Class — locked them out. They hadn’t paid rent for about nine months.
Cymru Ltd. Co., which ran Midnight Rodeo, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization Sept. 26, 2019. It later moved to change the case to Chapter 7 liquidation, since it didn’t plan to restart operations.
Entities connected to World Class also own the roughly
140,400-square-foot Culebra Crossing shopping center in the 8300 block of Culebra Road and warehouses at 639 Lanark Drive, records show.
News broke over the weekend that a group of Paxton’s top aides have accused him of bribery and other corruption charges in connection with with Paul. They allege Paxton used his office to benefit Paul, who gave the attorney general $25,000 in political contributions in 2018.
“Each of the individuals on this text chain made a good faith report of violations by you to an appropriate law enforcement authority concerning your relationship and activities with Nate Paul,” former First Assistant Attorney General Jeff Mateer wrote in a text message to Paxton, which Hearst Newspapers obtained.
The FBI raided Paul’s office in 2019, prompting the real estate investor to complain that he was treated unfairly and illegally by law enforcement officials.
In a statement Sunday, Paxton denied any wrongdoing. Michael Wynne, an attorney for Paul’s company, said in a statement Thursday that his client is facing “retaliatory and unfounded allegations aimed at impeding a fair investigation of his complaint.”
Paul started World Class in 2007 and quickly amassed a portfolio of 120 properties in 17 states, worth an estimated $1.2 billion, a 2017 Forbes profile states. That includes a string of prominent properties in Austin, such as 3M’s former campus.
But Paul’s business has run into trouble recently. More than 20 entities linked to World Class have filed for bankruptcy since November, the Austin Business Journal reports. World Class also is entangled in lawsuits involving investors and partners, but none in Bexar County District Court.
World Class officials didn’t respond to requests for comment.