NEW YORK —The company that controls the Empire State Building plans to raise as much as $1 billion in an initial public offering, giving investors the opportunity to own a piece of the landmark 102-story skyscraper.
Empire State Realty Trust 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 Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday. A group of closely held companies will be consolidated to form the REIT as part of the IPO, according to a separate filing.
The offering would give investors ownership of one of the world’s most famous buildings and other Midtown Manhattan properties as New York’s real-estate values rebound after the recession. Manhattan office values have gained 87 percent since a mid-2009 trough, according to Green Street Advisors, a REIT research firm in Newport Beach, Calif.Bloomberg News
