Empire State Realty (ESRT) began trading on the NYSE on 2 October 2013

Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) was last up 26 cents, or 2%, to $13.26 on Wednesday, rising in its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange after its initial public offering priced at the low end of the expected range. Empire State Realty owns the Empire State Building and other New York properties. On Tuesday, the real estate investment trust sold 71.5 million shares for $13 each in its IPO to raise $929.5 million, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The company had predicted shares would price at between $13 and $15.

History

• At 1,454 feet, the new art deco skyscraper rises above the Chrysler Building, in the background. At its 1931 opening, the Empire State Building was nearly empty, thanks to the Depression. Construction took only one year and 45 days. The building's official opening was marked by President Herbert Hoover switching on its lights from Washington.
• Shortly before 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 28, 1945, a 10-ton B-25 bomber flew into the 78th and 79th floors of the Empire State Building. The explosion blew a hole 18 feet wide and sent one of the bomber's engines through the other side and across 33rd Street onto the roof of another building. Fourteen people died, but the building remained structurally intact.
• A $20 million makeover that began recently will replace all 6,513 windows to reduce energy consumption.
• With the collapse of the World Trade Center's towers, the Empire State Building again became New York's tallest building. It will return to second place once the new One World Trade Center building is completed, in late 2013.