real estate
The Empire State Building Is Going Public
Empire State Realty Trust, the company that controls all 102 stories of the Empire State Building, filed for its initial public offering today, hoping to raise up to $1 billion, or way less than Facebook. The company, run by the Malkin family, owns twelve office properties overall, but disclosed $156.7 million in revenue for the first nine months of 2011 from New York City's most famous skyscraper. The company will make Class A shares available publicly, while Class B shares will hold 50 votes each; no word yet on how many must be purchased to personalize the tower light colors.
Owner of Empire State Building Files for I.P.O. [DealBook/NYT]