Empire State Realty Trust, a $5 billion office REIT concentrated in Manhattan and featuring the world-famous Empire State Building, priced its initial public offering (IPO) in 2013 at the low end of the proposed range. The new REIT offers things to like (e.g., lease-up opportunity, improving submarkets, good balance sheet) and ample things not to like (e.g., governance issues, execution risk, and challenges in valuing the ESB and the observatory).