The NYC Tenant's Commercial Lease Negotiation Checklist: What to Ask For, and When

A commercial lease negotiation checklist for a New York tenant runs in three stages, because each request has a moment when it is cheap to make. Before proposals, fix the size in rentable square feet, an all-in budget and two floors you would take. At the letter of intent, settle rent, free rent, the allowance, escalations, security, term and options. In the lease, pin down the sublet consent standard, restoration, building services and audit rights. Four New York items run through all three stages: rentable versus usable area, electricity, tax escalations and the good guy guarantee.

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Updated 2026-10-03 · Nomad Group

Stage one, before any proposal: three numbers to fix

Size, in rentable square feet. Plan on 175 square feet per person, and remember the usable floor is 15 to 25 percent smaller than the rentable figure you are billed on. Why: every later number is multiplied by this one.
An all-in budget. Rent, then electricity (about $2 to $4 a square foot each year), annual escalations of 2.5 to 3 percent and the deposit. Why: a floor that fits on asking rent can miss once those are added.
Two alternatives. Tour and test fit at least two floors you would sign. Why: a landlord concedes to a tenant who can go elsewhere.

Stage two, the letter of intent: seven requests in writing

Rent: the face rent, and the exact rentable square footage it applies to.
Free rent: the number of months, and whether they fall during construction or after it.
Allowance: the dollars per square foot, how they are paid out, and what happens to an unspent balance.
Escalations: the fixed percentage, and the base year for real estate tax and operating increases, set to the year you sign.
Security: the amount, a letter of credit as an alternative to cash, a burn-down, and the shape of the good guy guarantee.
Term: the lease start date, the rent start date and the length, matched to how far ahead you can forecast.
Options: renewal with the rent method stated, expansion or a first offer on adjacent space, and sublet rights in principle.

Anything left out of the letter of intent gets negotiated later, from a weaker position.

Stage three, the lease draft: four clauses to pin down

The sublet consent standard: not unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed, with a deadline for the landlord's reply.
Restoration: a list of what must come out when the term ends, agreed when the landlord approves your plans.
Services: the hours for heating and air conditioning, the after-hours rate, cleaning and freight access.
Audit rights: the right to check the landlord's operating expense statement, within a workable window.

These are drafting points, so your attorney leads and should confirm the wording in your lease.

Reading a proposal quoted per square foot per year

New York quotes office rent as dollars per rentable square foot per year. To turn a proposal into a monthly figure, multiply the rate by the rentable square feet and divide by twelve. As a worked example, say a proposal quotes $60 on 3,000 rentable square feet: that is $180,000 a year, or $15,000 a month, before electricity and escalations.

The block on this page shows floors in the middle asking band, so you can run the same sum on real sizes. Rent per square foot takes the conversion further.

Red flags that mean stop and ask

Pressure to skip the test fit, or to sign the letter of intent and sort out the details in the lease.
A standard lease, offered as the reason a clause cannot change.
A base year earlier than the year you sign.
Sublet consent at the landlord's sole discretion.
A personal guarantee whose notice period is long, or whose release hangs on conditions you may not be able to satisfy.

None of these ends a deal by itself. Each gets priced, fixed or walked away from. The escalations entry shows how the base year changes what you pay.

Floors asking $50 to $75 per square foot

Live from our listings · 6 of the 20, cheapest first

20 of the 46 floors with a published rent ask $50 to $75 per square foot per year, from 2,500 to 27,344 square feet.

Floors: 20
Sizes: 2,500-27,344 sq ft
Asking rent: $50-$72 / sq ft

Every available floor, with asking rents →

The full guide

This page is the short answer. The long one, with the numbers worked through, is here:

At which stage is a lease term cheapest to change?

At the letter of intent. The document is short and both sides still have alternatives, so a number moves in a round of email. Once the lease is being drafted, the same change takes attorneys and weeks. After signing, it depends on the landlord's goodwill.

Which items on the list are specific to New York?

Four. Rent is charged on rentable square feet, which include a share of the building's common areas. Electricity is billed apart from rent. Real estate tax increases above a base year pass through to the tenant. And the usual personal backstop is the good guy guarantee, which releases the guarantor once the tenant leaves on the conditions the lease sets, a point for your attorney to confirm.

Who makes these requests on the tenant's behalf?

Your broker makes the business requests in stages one and two, and your attorney makes the drafting requests in stage three. On your search, Nomad works for you. The negotiation guide covers how the rounds usually go.

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