Bryant Park vs Penn Plaza: Office Space Compared

The 84%, and why the median lies here

Bryant Park's median is $96 per square foot per year, Penn Plaza's $52, a $44 gap and an 84% premium. Against the $75 median across the 49 floors we represent citywide, Bryant Park sits better than a quarter above and Penn Plaza close to a third below.

Look at what makes those medians. Penn Plaza's three floors ask $50, $52 and $135, and the $135, a new prebuilt at 2 Penn Plaza, is the second highest number on our book behind only the $200 at 66 Hudson Boulevard, above every Bryant Park floor including the $125 at 500 Fifth Avenue. A submarket holding both the cheapest and the dearest floor in a comparison does not have a price level. It has a range.

Floor to floor is the comparison that survives contact. 213 West 35th Street's 11th, 6,100 square feet at $52, is about $26,433 a month for roughly 35 desks, listed with a terrace, a conference room and furniture in place. 5 Bryant Park's entire 33rd, 7,500 furnished square feet at $96, is $60,000 a month for roughly 43. Per desk, about $755 against $1,395.

Take the closest sizes and the picture holds. 1450 Broadway's 40th, 4,109 square feet at $95, is about $32,530 a month for 23 desks; 213 West 35th's 10th, 5,250 square feet at $50, is about $21,875 for 30. Penn Plaza delivers 1,141 more square feet and seven more desks for $10,655 less every month.

What each book holds, and who fits

Bryant Park: four floors across three buildings, 4,109 to 17,296 square feet, roughly 23 to 99 desks, asking $65 to $125. Penn Plaza: three floors across two buildings, 5,070 to 6,100 square feet, roughly 29 to 35 desks, asking $50 to $135. The size bands barely overlap, which settles more of this than rent does.

• Around 23 people: Bryant Park alone, at 1450 Broadway's 40th floor, delivered furnished and column free with a mix of open area and rooms.
• 29 to 35: Penn Plaza owns the band outright. Two floors at 213 West 35th Street at $50 and $52, or the prebuilt at 2 Penn Plaza, 5,070 square feet at $135 and about $57,038 a month, built with an executive office, three offices, a phone room, a conference room and open seating for 21 workstations.
• 40 to 43: Bryant Park alone, either 6,928 square feet at 500 Fifth Avenue for about $72,167 a month or 7,500 at 5 Bryant Park for $60,000, the first listed for its views, the second furnished.
• Around 99: Bryant Park again, 1450 Broadway's 4th floor at 17,296 square feet and $65, about $93,687 a month, and the only floor here asking less than the $75 citywide median.

The two 213 West 35th Street floors are stacked, so a company near 65 people could ask whether they come together as 11,350 square feet at a blended $51, near enough $48,308 a month. That is ownership's call, and it vanishes the moment one of them leases.

Getting there

Bryant Park runs on B/D/F/M, 7, N/Q/R/W at 42nd. Penn Plaza runs on 1/2/3, A/C/E, LIRR and NJ Transit. Not one line appears on both lists, which is the whole commute argument stated in two rows.

Penn Plaza is the regional rail market. LIRR and NJ Transit show up on its list and nowhere else here, and for a company whose people board a train outside the city that single fact outweighs everything else on this page. The Bryant Park list is subway only, but dense, and for a workforce already inside the five boroughs it is the easier address to reach without thinking about it.

Neither list is better. They serve different rosters, and the roster you intend to hire is the real input.

Our recommendation, by tenant type

29 to 35 people with a commuter-rail workforce: Penn Plaza, at 213 West 35th Street, and stop deliberating. The sizes fit, $21,875 or $26,433 a month is around a third of what Bryant Park charges at 40 desks, and the money saved funds a buildout twice over.

The same team hiring against Midtown employers or seeing clients weekly: Bryant Park, at 5 Bryant Park for $60,000 a month, understanding that the district is what you are buying. It comes furnished, and the March 2028 availability on our record means the term question comes before the rent question.

A team of 25 to 30 that needs to be sitting down next month with nothing built: 2 Penn Plaza's 17th floor, knowing that $135 is more per foot than any Bryant Park floor. The product is time rather than space, and where the timeline holds three months instead of three weeks, a work letter at 213 West 35th Street reaches a comparable office for less than half the rent.

Above 43 people: Bryant Park, because Penn Plaza stops at 6,100 square feet. Under 23: neither book fits cleanly today, and we would rather tell you that than sell 4,109 square feet and call it right-sizing.

The practical next step

Seven floors, and both markets can be walked in one day. Ask for a test fit at real headcount before anyone quotes a number, because rentable footage is a leasing convention rather than a measurement of your office.

Work the loss factor yourself. At the 15-25% common in New York, 6,100 rentable square feet at 213 West 35th leave roughly 4,575 to 5,185 usable, turning $52 into about $61 to $69 per usable foot; 7,500 at 5 Bryant Park leave 5,625 to 6,375, turning $96 into about $113 to $128.

Then price the deal rather than the ask. Electric adds $2 to $4 a foot on top, escalations run off a base year worth arguing about, and free rent, an improvement allowance, the letter of credit and the good guy guarantee move effective cost more than the last dollar of face rent. If you are building rather than taking a prebuilt, sequence design, DOB filing and construction before promising a move-in date. We represent tenants only, and can put the tours together this week.