Anthony Malkin and Christina Chiu

Empire State Realty Trust saw a strong 2024, eventually ending the year with its highest annual leasing volume since 2019. It also ended the year with a new president: Christina Chiu ascended to the job in February from the role of chief financial officer.

The real estate investment trust signed 1.33 million square feet of office leases, a nearly 40 percent increase year-over-year, and had 94.2 percent of its New York City portfolio spoken for by tenants. The REIT also went on a veritable shopping spree last year along fashionable North Sixth Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, picking up tens of millions of dollars in retail properties. 

“It’s a story of haves and have-nots, as far as landlords go, and we are clearly in the haves,” Anthony Malkin said. “So in a game of musical chairs where the brokers and the tenants now realize they really only want to go to the building that are ‘haves’ — because of a good landlord, modernized, amenitized, great location, energy efficient — there aren’t that many seats available.”

Asking rent is on the rise in the firm’s Empire State Building, for example, with the price per square foot increasing 28 percent since 2023, according to Malkin.

“The rest of the portfolio rhymes with that,” Malkin said.

On the debt side, ESRT is looking at a strong financial outlook with no maturities until the end of 2026, no floating-rate exposure, and liquidity for investing if the opportunity arises, said Chiu. She added that ESRT’s strong financial standing is a draw for tenants to sign long-term leases.

“We recognize that to our stakeholders and shareholders, they want to see great performance coming out of the existing portfolio, and they would like to see us deploy our balance sheet in a strategic manner that lends to good, long-term cash flow and value over time,” Chiu said. “When it comes to balance sheets and financial structure, it’s an ecosystem. You have to cater to equity investors, debt investors, and allocate capital strategically.”