The 102-story, 1,250-foot Empire State Building at 350 Fifth Avenue is probably the world's most famous office building. It was the world's tallest building for nearly 40 years after its 1931 completion and, though, several towers have now sprung past its peak, the skyscraper remains one of New York City's most iconic symbols and tourist attractions.

While its cultural bona fides have never dimmed, the tower's fortunes as a commercial property have ebbed and flowed, with marquee tenants giving way to more run-of-the-mill occupants and renovations chopping up its interiors into smaller spaces. In 2010, however, the tower's then-managing group Malkin Holdings launched a $550 million revamp to make the building more environmentally friendly as well as more appealing to higher-paying tenants.

Since 2013, the tower has been controlled by the Empire State Realty Trust, a publicly traded company launched by longtime majority owner the Malkin family, led by Anthony Malkin, now the trust's chairman and CEO.