Malkins Will Go Ahead with REIT Plans

NEW YORK CITY-It’s full steam ahead for a REIT IPO backed by the Empire State Building and other assets in Manhattan and the surrounding metro area. Malkin Holdings said in an SEC filing that it had rejected all offers to acquire the iconic office tower at 350 Fifth Ave., for which unsolicited bids were received ranging upward to $1.2 billion. The tower has been appraised at $2.53 billion, according to Bloomberg.

In a letter to shareholders in the syndicates that own the ESB as well as One Grand Central Place at 60 E. 42nd St., Malkin Holdings chairman Peter Malkin and president Anthony Malkin noted that they had received “indications of interest to purchase the fee and/or operating lease positions of the Empire State Building, as well as one indication of interest to purchase the fee and operating lease positions of One Grand Central Place.”