In a ruling, a New York judge set aside a potential obstacle to sell the Empire State Building as part of an REIT IPO. The judge ruled that the share-buyout provision is not violative of the law.

This ruling is another support for the Malkins push for the IPO plan for the iconic building. The Malkins are the real estate family in New York that are working on transforming the building into a real estate investment trust. This requires shareholder approval before being listed as an IPO.

The Empire State Building is but one of the eighteen other properties to form the real estate investment trust to be known as Empire State Realty Trust. The offer is set to be at US$1 billion, making it the second largest IPO for a REIT based in the US, according to data from Dealogic.

In order to be successful in their planned listing, the Malkins need to accumulate 80% of the shares held by the 2,800 different owners of the Empire State Building to approve of the plan. As of April, the family had already obtained 75%.

In a statement, a Malkin spokeswoman said, "We are pleased by the court's ruling and are proceeding with our solicitation with the intention of closing as soon as we reach the approval threshold."