Empire State Building going on sale for $57.5 million

NEW YORK -- An investor group that holds the lease on the Empire State Building has agreed to purchase the building from real estate magnate Donald Trump and his partner for $57.5 million, according to newspaper reports.

Peter Malkin, whose group, Empire State Building Associates, will buy the 102-story landmark, the newspapers reported, citing unidentified sources close to the transaction.

Malkin's group already holds a lease on the building through 2076.

For the first time since 1961, the same group of investors will own the building and control the long-term lease.

That means the building could be sold more easily and could ensure better financing terms.

The terms of the deal apparently give Trump and his partner, Japanese billionaire Hideki Yokoi, more than $6 million of the sale's proceeds, plus additional expenses.

The closing was expected to take place next month.

Under the 114-year lease drawn up in 1961, the building's owner receives $1.97 million a year in rent, decreasing to $1.72 million a year until 2076.

Since the manager of the building will remain the same, little was expected to change for the Empire State Building's 950 tenants and 20,000 workers.

The Sept. 11 attacks that collapsed the World Trade Center's twin towers made the Empire State Building once again the tallest building in the city.