An Accounting Firm Office Lease in NYC: What the Firm Should Look For

What an accounting or CPA firm should prioritize in a floor

• Private offices. Partners and managers handle client financials and need a door that closes. A floor already divided into offices avoids construction.
• Meeting rooms near the entrance, so clients do not walk past open desks and screens.
• A reception area, however small, and room for paper files if the firm keeps them.
• Transit. A firm draws staff and clients from across the region, and the walk from the train is part of every visit.
• Building hours. Deadline weeks bring late nights and weekends, so ask what hours the building runs its air conditioning and the charge for running it later.

How much space a firm of private offices needs

Use about 225 rentable square feet a person where many people have an office of their own, against 175 for a standard open layout. A 24-person firm therefore plans around 5,400 square feet. That is rentable area, and usable area runs 15 to 25 percent below it. The office space calculator converts headcount into a range and a monthly cost, and a test fit on the finalists shows how many offices a given floor really holds.

A prebuilt floor or a custom buildout: what each does to the move date

With a prebuilt or furnished floor, the firm can usually be in two to four weeks from the signing date. The layout is the landlord's, and many prebuilt floors are mostly open, so count the enclosed offices before assuming one fits. A custom buildout gives the firm its own plan and typically adds 10 to 16 weeks after signing. Private offices raise the cost, since each one is walls, a door and often a glass front. If the move has to be finished before a busy period, count back from that date before choosing.

Renewal and expansion options for an accounting firm staying put

A practice with a steady client base usually wants a longer term than a startup would, and the rights that protect it cost little at signing and are hard to win later.

• A renewal option, with the rent set by a clear method and a notice window you can put in the calendar.
• An expansion option or a right of first offer on neighboring space, for the years the firm adds staff.
• Yearly increases agreed in advance, and clarity about what must be restored when the lease ends.

Lease options explains each right. Your attorney should confirm the notice dates and conditions in the lease itself.

Why the floors shown here are at Grand Central

Grand Central is where Metro-North arrives from Westchester and Connecticut, with Long Island Rail Road platforms beneath it and the 4, 5, 6 and 7 subway lines inside. The side streets around the terminal hold prewar boutique buildings with smaller full floors, and newer towers stand on the avenues. For a firm whose partners and clients ride commuter rail, that access is the reason to look here first. Firms with other commutes should look at other districts as well. The Grand Central hub has each floor.