Bryant Park vs FiDi: Office Space Compared

The $24, and where it actually comes from

Our Bryant Park median is $96 per square foot per year against $72 in FiDi, a 34% premium worth $24 a foot, or $168,000 a year on a 7,000 square foot floor. FiDi's median lands about three dollars under the $75 median across the 49 floors we represent citywide; Bryant Park's sits roughly 27% above it.

The medians flatter that gap. Set the dearest floor in each side by side and the difference nearly vanishes: 500 Fifth Avenue's entire 55th asks $125, 4 World Trade Center's partial 44th asks $115. The divergence sits at the other end, where FiDi's cheapest is a 2,624 square foot suite at $60 and Bryant Park's a 17,296 square foot full floor at $65.

Price the pair a real tenant would weigh and the number gets honest. 500 Fifth Avenue at 6,928 square feet and $125 is about $72,167 a month and seats roughly 40. 17 State Street's partial 26th, 6,606 square feet at $79, is about $43,490 and seats roughly 38. Same team, two desks apart, $28,677 a month between them and close to $1.7 million over five years. The premium buys the district, not a better floor.

What sits in each book, and who fits where

Bryant Park gives four floors across three buildings, 4,109 to 17,296 square feet and roughly 23 to 99 desks. FiDi gives four across four, 2,624 to 6,997 square feet and 15 to 40 desks. Laid out by headcount, most of the decision answers itself.

• Under 20 people: FiDi alone, at 45 Broadway's partial 12th floor, 2,624 square feet at $60 and about $13,120 a month, a modern prebuilt with three private offices, a conference room and a pantry.
• 20 to 25: Bryant Park, at 1450 Broadway's entire 40th, 4,109 square feet at $95 and about $32,530 a month, delivered furnished and column free with three sides of light.
• 29 to 30: FiDi, at 4 World Trade Center's partial 44th, 5,023 square feet at $115 and about $48,137 a month, a partly furnished prebuilt with five offices and two conference rooms.
• 38 to 43: the one band where all four compete. FiDi asks $37,317 a month for 6,997 furnished square feet at 32 Old Slip and $43,490 for 6,606 at 17 State Street; Bryant Park asks $60,000 for 7,500 at 5 Bryant Park and $72,167 for 6,928 at 500 Fifth Avenue. The cheapest is a little over half the dearest, for the same company.
• Above 43: Bryant Park alone, at 1450 Broadway's entire 4th floor, 17,296 square feet at $65 and about $93,687 a month, the only Bryant Park floor priced under the $75 citywide median.

The 5 Bryant Park floor is listed as furnished and available through March 2028, so settle on the tour whether that is a direct lease or a sublease and price the term accordingly.

Getting there

Bryant Park's service is B/D/F/M, 7, N/Q/R/W at 42nd. FiDi's is 4/5, 2/3, R/W, 1, J/Z at Fulton and Wall, with PATH at the WTC Oculus. The R and the W are the only shared lines, which makes these two commutes rather than two versions of one.

PATH is the asymmetry with a hiring consequence, appearing on the FiDi list and nowhere on the Bryant Park one. If a real share of your people comes from New Jersey, that entry outweighs any amenity either building offers, and it pays out twice a day for the length of the lease.

Read your roster before either rent column, because the commute is the only term here that your employees renegotiate every morning.

Our recommendation, by tenant type

Under 20 people and cost sensitive: FiDi. 45 Broadway at about $13,120 a month is the cheapest entry on either book by a distance, and Bryant Park holds nothing that size to argue with.

A team of 38 to 43 that lives on video calls rather than in the elevator: FiDi, at 32 Old Slip. Furnished, wired, about $37,317 a month, and the $22,683 saved every month against 5 Bryant Park is roughly $272,000 a year.

The same size team, if its business happens face to face in Midtown: Bryant Park, and pay it without agonizing. 5 Bryant Park at $60,000 a month is the sane version of that choice; 500 Fifth Avenue at $72,167 is the version you take when views and the address do commercial work for you.

Around 90 people and above: Bryant Park, because 1450 Broadway's 4th floor is the only floor either market offers at that size, and at $65 it undercuts the citywide median while doing it.

Between 44 and 90: neither market holds a floor today, and we would rather say so than stitch two together and call it a headquarters. That search widens toward Midtown, NoMad and SoHo.

The practical next step

Eight floors, two clusters, two half days. Do not fold them into one afternoon, because the point is to feel each district at nine in the morning.

Bring real headcount and ask for a test fit before anyone trades numbers, since 40 desks on a plan and 40 desks people can work at are different products at one price. Every footage here is rentable: at the 15-25% loss factors common in New York, 6,997 rentable square feet at 32 Old Slip leave roughly 5,248 to 5,947 usable, turning $64 into about $75 to $85 per usable foot.

Then compare deals rather than asks. Electric, cleaning, after-hours HVAC, the escalation base year, the letter of credit, the good guy guarantee, free rent and the improvement allowance routinely close a $24 gap to single digits, or widen it. We represent tenants only, both rent columns are published above, and the tours can be arranged this week.