Private equity investors can now own Empire State Building and related property

Real estate company Malkin Properties, which purchased the Empire State Building and the ground beneath it in 2002, have decided to file for an initial public offering, Reuters reports.

The Malkin portfolio consists of 12 office buildings in New York and Connecticut, comprising about 7.7 million square feet in rentable office space, The New York Times notes. However, the star of the IPO is the Empire State Building, which was once the tallest structure in the world and was featured in the movie King Kong.

The filing listed a target of $1 billion in raised funds, which will be used primarily to pay current building stakeholders who choose to receive cash in exchange for interest, as well as to repay debt, Reuters adds.

Malkin Properties chairman Anthony E. Malkin has spent millions of dollars renovating the building. Two years ago, he began a $500 million project that would update it to current environmental standards. The Times notes that partnerships with the Clinton Climate Initiative and Jones Lang LaSalle have helped to turn it into a "green office space."

Notable tenants in the building include cosmetic company Elizabeth Arden and financial data provider Thomson Reuters.

As one of the leading accounting firms in Boston, KLR offers services for private equity firms, including business valuations, state and local tax consulting, financial modeling and international tax and business advisory services. Because of its size, KLR can also provide acquisition plan assistance such as pre-transaction evaluation and purchase price allocation.