U.S. regulators have given the green light to the manager of the Empire State Building to ask investors to vote on a plan to fold the iconic building into a new real estate investment trust that eventually will be publicly traded.

After months of review, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission signed off on the documents allowing Malkin Holdings LLC to solicit investors in the Empire State Building to vote on the plan for the building to be the centerpiece of more than 18 properties in Empire State Realty Trust Inc, according to a filing Wednesday.