Empire State Realty Trust’s portfolio includes seven Manhattan office properties, among them the Empire State Building, 1 Grand Central Place, and 250 West 57th St., known as the Fisk Building. There are five office properties north of the city, including First Stamford Place in Stamford, Connecticut, and 10 Bank St. in White Plains, New York.
Observatory Revenue
There are six standalone retail properties, including 10 Union Square in Manhattan and two retail centers in Westport, Connecticut. The proposed REIT also has a development site in Stamford and options to buy two more Manhattan office buildings.
The Empire State Building generated 47.1 percent of the REIT’s pro-forma revenue of $511.2 million last year. The observatory, a magnet for Manhattan tourists, accounted for $92.2 million of that. That probably can only be improved “modestly,” while office revenue should jump as space is leased after a renovation, Knott said.
The office portion of the tower was 78 percent leased as of June 30, according to the REIT prospectus. That’s up from 67 percent as of the end of last September.
“The 20 or so floors they have finished renovations on, they’ve increased the revenues on by almost 110 percent,” Knott said. “The early results there are encouraging, and speak to the progress they have made in executing the repositioning.”