"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
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$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
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