The owners of the iconic Empire State Building are planning to sell shares of 102-story skyscraper to the public in an offering that could top $1 billion.

Rudy Sulgan/Corbis

"Soon, investors can take after King Kong and grab a piece of the Empire State Building," says Alex Veiga at the Associated Press. The owner of the tallest building in New York City plans to sell shares of the skyscraper to the public. The Malkin family, which owns the midtown Manhattan skyscraper, hopes the move will allow it to "simplify control" of its sizable real estate holdings, which include 12 office buildings in New York and Connecticut. Here, a brief guide to the IPO, by the numbers:

$1 billion
The target amount the Malkin family expects to raise in the sale

$57.5 million
Amount Peter Malkin paid Donald Trump for the property in 2002

$550 million
Amount the Malkins have since spent making the tower more energy efficient and eco-friendly

$175 million to $215 million
Additional investments expected through 2013

$156.7 million 
Revenue earned by the skyscraper through the first nine months of 2011

1931 
Year construction was completed

1933 
Year King Kong premiered, featuring the giant ape perched at the Empire State Building's pinnacle

102
Stories in the Empire State Building

160
Stories in Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world

1,050 
Elevation, in feet, of the Empire State Building's 86th floor observatory

1,250 
Elevation, in feet, of the 102nd floor observatory

2,716.5
Elevation, in feet, of the Burj Khalifa

10,000 to 20,000 
People who visit the Empire State Building daily

7.7 million
Square feet of rentable office space in the Malkins' dozen office buildings, including the Empire State Building

10.5 
Percentage of the Empire State Building's offices that are vacant, compared with an average of 6 percent in the surrounding neighborhood

Sources: Associated Press, Burj Khalifa, Digital Journal, Empire State Building, NY Times, Reuters