Overview
We are a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust, or REIT, that owns, manages, operates, acquires and repositions office and retail properties in Manhattan and the greater New York metropolitan area.
As of December 31, 2013, our total portfolio, containing 8.4 million rentable square feet of office and retail space, was 86.1% occupied. Including signed leases not yet commenced, our total portfolio was 87.7% leased. As of December 31, 2013, we owned 12 office properties (including one long-term ground leasehold interest) encompassing approximately 7.7 million rentable square feet of office space, which were approximately 85.6% occupied or 87.3% leased including signed leases not yet commenced. Seven of these properties are located in the midtown Manhattan market and encompass in the aggregate approximately 5.9 million rentable square feet of office space, including the Empire State Building. Our Manhattan office properties also contain an aggregate of 418,377 rentable square feet of premier retail space on their ground floor and/or lower levels. Our remaining five office properties are located in Fairfield County, Connecticut and Westchester County, New York, encompassing in the aggregate approximately 1.8 million rentable square feet. The majority of square footage for these five properties is located in densely populated metropolitan communities with immediate access to mass transportation. Additionally, we have entitled land at the Stamford Transportation Center in Stamford, Connecticut, adjacent to one of our office properties, that will support the development of an approximately 380,000 rentable square foot office building and garage, which we refer to herein as Metro Tower. As of December 31, 2013, our portfolio also included four standalone retail properties located in Manhattan and two standalone retail properties located in the city center of Westport, Connecticut, encompassing 204,175 rentable square feet in the aggregate. As of December 31, 2013, our standalone retail properties were 97.7% leased in the aggregate.
In addition, we have an option to acquire from affiliates of our predecessor two additional Manhattan office properties encompassing approximately 1.5 million rentable square feet of office space and 153,209 rentable square feet of retail space at the base of the buildings. For a description of our option properties, see "Item 2. Properties - Option Properties."
The Empire State Building offers panoramic views of New York and neighboring states from its world-famous 86th and 102nd floor observatories that draw millions of visitors per year. The number of visitors to the observatories was approximately 4.3 million and 4.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively. The 86th floor observatory has a 360-degree outdoor deck as well as indoor viewing galleries to accommodate guests day and night, all year-round. The 102nd floor observatory is entirely indoors and offers a 360-degree view of New York City from 1,250 feet above ground.
We were organized as a Maryland corporation on July 29, 2011. We did not have any assets other than cash and did not have any meaningful operating activity until the consummation of the Offering and the related acquisition of our predecessor and certain non-controlled entities controlled by our predecessor on October 7, 2013 as part of the formation transactions. Our operations commenced upon completion of the Offering and related formation transactions on October 7, 2013. Our operating partnership holds substantially all of our assets and conducts substantially all of our business. Upon completion of the Offering, we owned approximately 39.1% of the aggregate operating partnership units in our operating partnership. Our company, as the sole general partner in our operating partnership, has responsibility and discretion in the management and control in our operating partnership, and the limited partners of our operating partnership, in such capacity, have no authority to transact business for, or participate in the management activities of our operating partnership. We intend to elect to be taxed as a real estate investment trust ("REIT") and operate in a manner that we believe allows us to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2013.
Our Competitive Strengths
We believe that we distinguish ourselves from other owners and operators of office and retail properties as a result of the following competitive strengths:
income from its observatory and broadcasting operations. All of these properties include premier retail space on their ground floor and/or lower levels, which comprise 418,377 rentable square feet in the aggregate and some of which have recently undergone significant redevelopments. We believe the high quality of our buildings, services and amenities, their desirable locations and commuter access to mass transportation should allow us to increase rents and occupancy to generate positive cash flow and growth.