Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
Real estate investors may soon be given a chance to own a piece of one of Americas most famous landmarks, as Malkin Holdings LLC, the company that operates New York’s Empire State Building, is set to become a REIT - a publicly traded real estate investment trust, early in the New Year.
Want to own the Empire State Building? Investors may have a chance to do so soon. © dell - Fotolia.com
The Empire State Building Associates LLC announced earlier in a regulatory filing that it was "taking a course of action" that would enable it to become a REIT within the next three months, and that documents to initiate this would be filed with the Exchange and Securities Commission later.
Should the plan go through, the New York Times reported that it would give investors the chance to snap up a share of one of the most famous buildings in New York, which would not only afford the ultimate bragging rights, but would also make a sound investment in the current climate. Despite the economic downturn, real estate in the Big Apple continues to be an attractive opposition. Property values in the city are enjoying a strong rebound of late, with Manhattan office prices increasing by 87% since their mid-2009 low, according to the latest data from Green Street Advisors Inc., a REIT research firm in Newport Beach, California.
The SEC filings were unusual in that they contained no specifics, except to add that more information would be made available after around three months. Should the deal go ahead, it’s thought that Goldman Sachs would take the role of lead underwriter, according to an anonymous source in the New York Times.
