Empire State Building Owners File $1 Billion IPO, Plan for REIT

February 14, 2012 6:15 AM EST

Empire State Realty Trust Inc, the company that controls Manhattan's Empire State Building, plans to raise as much as $1 billion by means of an initial public offering.

This IPO will give investors the opportunity to own a piece of the landmark 102-story Manhattan skyscraper. Empire State Realty Trust Inc. plans to become a real estate investment trust and list shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “ESB,” the company said in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing today.

A group of closely held companies will be consolidated to form the real estate investment trust (REIT) as part of the IPO, according to a separate filing. Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will advise on the IPO. No price or number of shares was given in the filing.

Malkin Holdings LLC is the supervisor of the company that holds the title to the tower. It owns the 269,000-square-meter Empire State Building in conjunction with the estate of Leona Helmsley. The REIT would consolidate Manhattan and New York area properties owned by companies including Empire State Building Associates LLC, 60 East 42nd St. Associates LLC and 250 West 57th St. Associates LLC.

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The REIT would also hold rights to develop land near the Metro North railroad station in Stamford, Connecticut, plus four standalone retail properties in Manhattan and two in Westport, Connecticut.

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The Empire State Building accounted for 41 percent of Empire Realty’s revenue in the nine months through September, the company said in the filing. The tower’s observatory, one of New York’s most popular tourist attractions, provided 17 percent of the company’s revenue during that period.

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