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You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectus prepared by us or information to which we have referred you. We have not, and the underwriters have not, authorized any other person to provide you with different information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. We are not, and the underwriters are not, making an offer to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus and any free writing prospectus prepared by us is accurate only as of their respective dates or on the date or dates which are specified in these documents. Our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates.

Unless the context otherwise requires or indicates, references in this prospectus to “we,” “our,” “us” and “our company” refer to (i) Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (formerly known as Empire Realty Trust, Inc.), a Maryland corporation, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, including Empire State Realty OP, L.P. (formerly known as Empire Realty Trust, L.P.), a Delaware limited partnership, which we refer to in this prospectus as “our operating partnership,” after giving effect to the formation transactions described in this prospectus and (ii) our predecessor before giving effect to the formation transactions described in this prospectus. Unless the context otherwise requires or indicates, the information contained in this prospectus assumes (i) the formation transactions, as described under the caption “Structure and Formation of Our Company” beginning on page 221, have been completed; (ii) the              shares of Class A common stock to be sold in this offering are sold at $             per share, which is the mid-point of the range of prices set forth on the front cover of this prospectus; (iii) no exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase up to an additional              shares of our Class A common stock; (iv) the operating partnership units to be issued in the formation transactions are valued at $             per unit; (v) the Class B common stock to be issued in the formation transactions is valued at $             per share; and (vi) all property information is as of September 30, 2011.

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Market Data

We use market data and industry forecasts and projections throughout this prospectus, and in particular in the section entitled “Business and Properties.” We have obtained substantially all of this information from a market study prepared for us by Rosen Consulting Group, or RCG, a nationally recognized real estate consulting firm in January 2012. We have paid RCG a fee for such services. Such information is included herein in reliance on RCG’s authority as an expert on such matters. See “Experts.” In addition, we have obtained certain market data from publicly available information and industry publications. These sources generally state that the information they provide has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Forecasts are based on industry surveys and the preparer’s expertise in the industry and there is no assurance that any of the projected amounts will be achieved. We believe this data others have compiled are reliable, but we have not independently verified this information. Any forecasts prepared by RCG are based on data (including third party data), models and experience of various professionals, and are based on various assumptions, all of which are subject to change without notice.

We own, manage, operate, acquire and reposition office and retail properties in Manhattan and the greater New York metropolitan area. We refer to our properties in Manhattan as our “Manhattan properties.” We use the term “greater New York metropolitan area” to refer only to Fairfield County, Connecticut and Westchester County, New York. We refer to our office and retail properties collectively as “our portfolio.” Our targeted office markets as defined by RCG include the Midtown Manhattan market, which spans from 30th Street north to Central Park (59th Street) and includes the Penn Station, Times Square South, Grand Central and West Side submarkets, and the Westchester County and Fairfield County markets. Our targeted retail markets as defined by RCG include Midtown Manhattan, Union Square (where Park Avenue meets 14th Street), the Upper East Side and Fairfield County. The manner in which we define our property markets and submarkets differs from how RCG has done so in its market study included herein. Further, RCG’s definition of the New York metropolitan area differs from our definition of the greater New York metropolitan area. RCG’s definition includes Putnam County and Rockland County in New York and Bergen County, Hudson County, and Passaic County in Northern New Jersey and excludes Fairfield County in Connecticut.

Predecessor Definition

Our predecessor is not a legal entity but rather a combination of (i) controlling interests in (a) 16 office and retail properties, (b) one development parcel, and (c) certain management companies, which are owned by certain entities that are owned or controlled by the sponsors (Anthony E. Malkin and Peter L. Malkin) and/or their affiliates and family members, which we collectively refer to as the controlled entities, and (ii) non-controlling interests in four office properties (which include two of the 16 properties set forth in (i) above), held through entities we collectively refer to as the non-controlled entities, and are presented as uncombined entities in our combined financial statements. Specifically, the term “our predecessor” means (i) Malkin Holdings LLC, a New York limited liability company that acts as the supervisor of, and performs various asset management services and routine administration with respect to, certain of the existing entities (as described below), which we refer to as “the supervisor;” (ii) the limited liability companies or limited partnerships that currently (a) own, directly or indirectly and either through a fee interest or a long-term leasehold in the underlying land, and/or (b) operate, directly or indirectly and through a fee interest, an operating lease, an operating sublease or an operating sub-sublease, the 18 office and retail properties (which include non-controlling interests in four office properties for which Malkin Holdings LLC acts as the supervisor but that are not consolidated into our predecessor for accounting purposes) and entitled land that will support the development of an approximately 340,000 rentable square foot office building and garage that we will own after the formation transactions described in this prospectus, which we refer to as the “existing entities;” (iii) Malkin Properties, L.L.C., a New York limited liability company that serves as the manager and leasing agent for certain of the existing entities in Manhattan, which we refer to as “Malkin Properties;” (iv) Malkin Properties of New York, L.L.C., a New York limited liability company that serves as the manager and leasing agent for certain of the existing entities in Westchester County, New York, which we refer to as “Malkin Properties NY;” (v) Malkin Properties of Connecticut, Inc., a

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Connecticut corporation that serves as the manager and leasing agent for certain of the existing entities in the State of Connecticut, which we refer to as “Malkin Properties CT;” and (vi) Malkin Construction Corp., a Connecticut corporation that is a general contractor and provides services to certain of the existing entities and third parties (including certain tenants at the properties in our portfolio), which we refer to as “Malkin Construction.” The term “our predecessor’s management companies” refers to the supervisor, Malkin Properties, Malkin Properties NY, Malkin Properties CT and Malkin Construction, collectively. Our predecessor accounts for its investment in the non-controlled entities under the equity method of accounting.

Class A and Class B Common Stock and Operating Partnership Units

Following this offering, we will have two classes of common stock, Class A common stock and Class B common stock. Shares of Class A common stock entitle the holders to one vote per share whereas shares of Class B common stock will entitle holders to 50 votes per share. The continuing investors that had an option to elect operating partnership units at the time of the election of consideration in the formation transactions had an option to elect to receive one share of Class B common stock in lieu of one operating partnership unit for every 50 operating partnership units such holder would have otherwise received in the formation transactions. The Class B common stock provides the holders thereof voting rights that generally correspond to their economic interests in our company, assuming such continuing investor elected to receive the maximum amount of shares of Class B common stock to which it was entitled in the formation transactions. No continuing investor receiving shares of Class B common stock will hold shares of common stock with an aggregate voting power that exceeds such continuing investor’s economic interest in our company. For a description of the material terms of our common stock, see “Description of Securities.” Interests in our operating partnership are denominated in units of limited partnership, which we call operating partnership units. Operating partnership units are redeemable for cash, or at our election, shares of our Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis. As used herein, when we refer to our ownership interest in our operating partnership, we mean the percentage of all operating partnership units that are expected to be held by us. Unless the context otherwise requires or indicates, the term “common stock” as used herein means both our Class A and Class B common stock. The term “fully diluted basis” means all outstanding shares of our Class A common stock at such time plus shares of Class A common stock that may be issuable upon the exchange of operating partnership units on a one-for-one basis and shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the conversion of Class B common stock on a one-for-one basis, which is not the same as the meaning of “fully diluted” under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America, or GAAP. The term “owns” in respect of ownership of securities of our company means the direct beneficial ownership of such securities or the ability to control the vote or disposition of such securities.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We use non-GAAP financial measures in this prospectus. For definitions and reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Net Operating Income, “—Funds from Operations” and “—EBITDA.”

Miscellaneous

The term “reposition” means the strategic improvement of one or more of the following characteristics of a building: (i) tenant type, composition and credit quality, (ii) aggregate rentable square feet, (iii) average space leased per tenant, (iv) aggregate space leased, (v) lease term, (vi) average rent per square foot, (vii) aggregate rental revenue and/or (viii) branding and associated marketing efforts, and requires significant capital expenditures for physical improvements to the building and its amenities.

The term “Malkin Group” means all of the following, as a group: Anthony E. Malkin, Peter L. Malkin and each of their spouses and lineal descendants (including spouses of such descendants), any estates of any of the foregoing, any trusts now or hereafter established for the benefit of any of the foregoing, or any corporation, partnership, limited liability company or other legal entity controlled by Anthony E. Malkin for the benefit of any of the foregoing; provided, however that solely with respect to tax protection rights and parties who entered into

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the contribution agreements described in this prospectus, the Malkin Group shall also include the lineal descendants of Lawrence A. Wien and his spouse (including spouses of such descendants), any estates of the foregoing, any trusts now or hereafter established for the benefit of any of the foregoing, or any corporation, partnership, limited liability company or other legal entity controlled by Anthony E. Malkin for the benefit of the foregoing.

We refer to Anthony E. Malkin, our Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President, David A. Karp, our Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President and Treasurer, Thomas P. Durels, our Executive Vice President, and Thomas N. Keltner, Jr., our General Counsel and Secretary, collectively as our “senior management team.”

The term “the Helmsley estate” means the interests of the estate of Leona M. Helmsley (including any interests in the existing entities transferred from the Helmsley estate to the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust).

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