Two Downtown Austin properties controlled by embattled developer Nate Paul’s World Class Holdings could soon trade for a combined $172 million, potentially setting the stage for new skyscraper-scale development.
A court-appointed receiver is negotiating sales of the property at 99 Trinity Street and a three-parcel assemblage near the Austonian tower at 201 and 203 Colorado Street, plus a neighboring parking lot, according to a receiver report filed Feb. 2 in Travis County court. The Austin Business Journal reported that Greg Milligan, who was named receiver in 2019 for the World Class entities that own the sites, said contracts could be ready for court approval “in the coming months.”
The prospective buyer has not been identified. But marketing materials from Chicago-based Harney Partners, where Milligan is an executive vice president, peg the combined purchase price at $172 million. If that number holds, it would nearly double the properties’ combined appraised value of about $88.7 million, according to the Travis Central Appraisal District.
Both sites were listed in late 2024, with purchase agreements signed in early 2025, subject to court approval. JLL is marketing the property at 99 Trinity and lists it as under contract.
The deals further highlight the unraveling of World Class, led by CEO Nate Paul, whose legal troubles have cast a long shadow over his downtown portfolio. Paul spent time in Travis County Jail for contempt of court amid a bitter dispute with the Mitte Foundation, a nonprofit investor in World Class projects. That case, along with other litigation and financial distress, have steadily pushed marquee sites out of the firm’s control.
The 0.9-acre site at 99 Trinity is currently home to a low-slung sheet metal warehouse which sits next to a Four Seasons Hotel, the Waterline tower and the massive redevelopment of Austin’s convention center across the street. The property carries a base floor-area ratio of 10-to-1, with a pathway to 25-to-1 and no height limit, according to JLL — and it sits outside Capitol View Corridors. World Class once floated a 39-story apartment tower there, but it never materialized.
The Colorado Street assemblage totals about 1.2 acres on the same block as the 683-foot Austonian. While a sliver of the parking lot falls within a Capitol View Corridor, the rest of the site allows substantial density through Austin’s Downtown Density Bonus Program.
Downtown height is currently capped at 350 feet under a temporary city ordinance, though developers can exceed it with council approval. City leaders are expected to clarify permanent height rules later this spring.
— Eric Weilbacher
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