Commercial Real Estate Agents in NYC: The Job by Stage, and How Long Each Takes

Weeks 1 to 4: brief, market survey, shortlist and tours

The search runs 2 to 4 weeks when the brief is firm. The example here is a team of 30: at 175 square feet per person that is roughly 5,250 square feet, the size the block on this page is set to.

• The brief. Today's headcount, the headcount expected in 12 to 18 months, the move-in date, the budget and the neighborhoods, written down as one requirement. A few days.
• The market survey. Direct space, subleases and floors not yet marketed, checked against the requirement. Days, not weeks.
• The shortlist. The floors that pass the survey, each with its size and asking rent. At Nomad, once the brief is in, a first shortlist can be ready within 24 hours.
• The tours. One afternoon holds three to five floors, and most searches need two or three afternoons before the finalists are obvious. The tour checklist covers what to look at on site.

Weeks 4 to 6: test fits, proposals and the letter of intent

With two or three finalists left, allow 1 to 2 weeks for this stage.

• Test fits. A quick layout of your team on each finalist, so you learn how many desks and rooms it really holds before you bid. What a test fit shows.
• Proposals. The agent asks each landlord to price the deal, then restates every answer on one basis: the full cost across the term, with free months, the allowance and the escalations all priced in.
• The letter of intent. A short document that fixes rent, term, free rent, the allowance and the security before any lawyer drafts a lease. A term changed here takes a line; changed later, it takes weeks.

Weeks 6 to 12 and beyond: the lease, then buildout or move-in

The lease takes 3 to 6 weeks. The landlord's attorney usually drafts it and yours reviews it, over two or three rounds. The agent keeps the landlord to the terms agreed in the letter of intent and stops the business points from drifting.

What follows depends on the space. A furnished or pre-built one is usually ready 2 to 4 weeks after signing; custom construction typically runs 10 to 16. That choice separates a total of six to eight weeks from one of four to six months. The full timeline follows each phase in detail.

What an operations lead can run in parallel, and where the calendar slips

These can run side by side:

• Test fits and a contractor's estimate during the proposal round, so the allowance you ask for rests on a real number.
• Design during the lease negotiation, so drawings are ready to file at signing.
• Long-lead orders and the internet circuit placed as soon as the lease is signed, and furniture chosen while construction is under way.

The calendar usually slips in four places: a brief still being argued inside the company, decisions made once a week while good space goes to faster tenants, economics reopened after the letter of intent, and approvals nobody checked, such as landmark review in SoHo and parts of Flatiron, which can add two to four weeks.

How agents are paid for those weeks of work

In most transactions the landlord pays the broker fee, as a commission due when the lease is signed, so the weeks described above usually come with no bill to the tenant. Ask any agent at the start how they are paid on your deal.