Empire State Realty Trust Acquires $46M Williamsburg Retail Asset, Reports Q1 2026 Results

Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: ESRT) reported first-quarter 2026 financial results on April 29, 2026, announcing net income of $0.01 per fully diluted share and Core Funds From Operations (Core FFO) of $0.20 per share. Alongside its earnings release, the New York City-focused real estate investment trust disclosed the completion of a $46 million retail acquisition in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and $184 million in financing activity that extends the company's debt maturity runway.

Williamsburg Retail Acquisition: 41-55 North 6th Street

Empire State Realty Trust acquired a newly constructed, currently vacant retail asset at 41-55 North 6th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn for $46.0 million at the end of the first quarter. The approximately 22,000-square-foot property is situated between Kent and Wythe Avenues, in close proximity to the company's existing 102,000-square-foot portfolio of retail assets along the North 6th Street corridor. The acquisition adds eight new storefronts to the company's existing position along that corridor.

The acquisition was structured as a redeployment of investment capacity from the December 2025 disposition of Metro Center, the company's last suburban commercial asset, without recognition of a taxable gain. Together with the company's purchase of 86-90 North 6th Street in mid-2025, the Williamsburg transaction completed the full redeployment of proceeds from that prior sale. The company described these transactions as part of a strategy to recycle capital from non-core suburban assets into high-quality New York City assets with stronger long-term cash flow growth prospects.

Financing Activity

Empire State Realty Trust completed $184 million in financing transactions during and immediately following the first quarter. The company closed a $53.5 million mortgage refinancing for 10 Union Square East — a 10-year, interest-only loan at a fixed rate of 5.3% — replacing a $50.0 million loan that matured on April 1, 2026.

In mid-April, the company entered into a note purchase agreement to issue $130 million of 6-year senior unsecured notes in a private placement transaction at a fixed rate of 5.99%, maturing in 2032. The private placement is scheduled to fund on July 15, 2026. With these transactions complete, Empire State Realty Trust reported no unaddressed debt maturities until January 2028.

As of March 31, 2026, the company held $0.6 billion in total liquidity, comprised of $69 million in cash and $530 million available under its revolving credit facility. Total debt outstanding stood at approximately $2.3 billion at a weighted average interest rate of 4.54%, with a net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio of 6.3x.

Portfolio Operations

Empire State Realty Trust's total commercial portfolio was 93.2% leased and 88.2% occupied as of March 31, 2026. The company noted that occupancy was reduced by approximately 140 basis points due to temporary downtime related to a previously disclosed FDIC lease expiration, which has since been fully re-leased. The office portfolio specifically was 93.0% leased and 87.9% occupied at quarter-end.

The company signed 113,484 rentable square feet of commercial leases during the first quarter across 11 transactions, with an average lease duration of 12.2 years. Office leases accounted for 90,687 square feet at an average cash rent of $59.46 per square foot, with blended leasing spreads of positive 6.8% — marking the 19th consecutive quarter of positive office leasing spreads. Retail leases totaled 22,797 square feet at an average cash rent of $135.49 per square foot, with spreads of negative 1.1%.

Notable leasing activity included a 13-year, 60,003-square-foot new office lease with Steve Madden at 501 Seventh Avenue, and a 20-year, 21,683-square-foot renewal retail lease with JP Morgan Chase at One Grand Central Place. Subsequent to quarter-end, the company announced a 10.5-year, 38,084-square-foot new full-floor office lease with a financial services tenant at 130 Mercer Street.

Multifamily Portfolio and Observatory Performance

Empire State Realty Trust's multifamily portfolio of 743 residential units was 96.4% leased as of March 31, 2026, compared to 97.8% at year-end 2025 and 99.0% a year earlier.

The Empire State Building Observatory generated net operating income of $10.6 million in the seasonally light first quarter, representing a year-over-year decline of approximately $3.5 million excluding gift shop license revenue. The company previously disclosed that gift shop license fees are expected to be more heavily weighted toward the fourth quarter in 2026 compared to 2025, due to a COVID-era license amendment.

Same-store property cash NOI, excluding lease termination fees, increased 5.5% year-over-year in the first quarter. The company noted that approximately $3.0 million of non-recurring items — predominantly lease modification revenue and net insurance recoveries — contributed to that figure. Adjusted for those non-recurring items, same-store property cash NOI increased 1.3%.

2026 Outlook Unchanged

Empire State Realty Trust maintained its full-year 2026 guidance, projecting Core FFO per fully diluted share of $0.85 to $0.89, compared to $0.87 in 2025. The company's guidance assumes a roughly $0.03 per share negative impact from temporary downtime associated with the FDIC expiration, which has been re-leased. Year-end commercial occupancy is projected at 90% to 92%, and same-store property cash NOI growth is guided at negative 1.5% to positive 2.0%, excluding lease termination fees. Observatory NOI is projected at $87 million to $92 million for the full year.

The company's property portfolio as of March 31, 2026 comprised 7.6 million rentable square feet of office space, 0.8 million rentable square feet of retail space, and 743 residential units.

Empire State Realty Trust hosted a webcast and conference call on April 30, 2026 to discuss the results.

Sources: Empire State Realty Trust Q1 2026 Earnings Press Release