Dear Commons Community,

The company that runs the Empire State Building is planning to go public in a stock offering that could raise $1 billion, according to documents filed with regulators Monday.

That means that if you have a few extra dollars to spare, you can buy a stake in perhaps the nation’s most well-known office building.

The New York Times is reporting that:

“The planned IPO comes about 10 years after real estate investor Peter Malkin bought the 102-story Art Deco landmark from Donald Trump and a business partner for $57.5 million.

It’s the latest chapter in a saga that dates to 1931, when the building was completed, establishing it as the city’s tallest skyscraper. It regained that standing after the collapse of the World Trade Center twin towers in the Sept. 11 attacks.”

King Kong is not included in the IPO!

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Two new polls released Monday show Mitt Romney fighting to keep his lead among Republicans nationally and struggling to win favor from the conservative base.

A new Pew Research Center poll found Rick Santorum and Romney neck-and-neck, with Santorum winning 30 percent of the support among Republican registered voters to Romney’s 28 percent — a difference that falls well within the poll’s five percentage point margin of error. Separately, Gallup’s latest tracking survey of the Republican race found Romney with 32 percent support and Santorum right on his heels with 30 percent.

The Huffington Post is reporting that:

“Of concern for Romney, the Pew poll shows him struggling among the conservative groups that make up the Republican base. Among self-identified conservatives, Santorum leads Romney by an 11 percent margin, 36 percent to 25 percent. Among Tea Party supporters, Santorum leads 42 percent to 23 percent.

Romney’s support among Tea Party supporters is essentially unchanged from last month, when he received 26 percent support from Tea Party supporters to 24 percent each for Santorum and Newt Gingrich. But Santorum’s lead among the group may be a sign that they have begun to see him as the alternative to Romney.”

It appears that the Republican presidential primary has become the never-ending story for 2012.

Tony