A Commercial Lease Broker for Growing Companies: A Lease With Room to Grow
A commercial lease broker for a growing company negotiates the clauses that keep a lease usable when headcount changes. For a team heading from about 30 to 50 people, that starts with size: 175 square feet per person, plus the 15 to 25 percent that a team still hiring usually adds. Then come four rights: an option to expand, a right of first offer or first refusal on nearby space, the right to sublet or assign, and an option to renew. Nomad settles these in the letter of intent, before the lease is drafted, because that is when a landlord gives them most readily.
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Send me floors for 50Updated 2026-10-03 · Nomad Group
Sizing for growth before any clause is written
Fifty people at 175 square feet per person is about 8,750 square feet. Add the usual 15 to 25 percent for a team that is still hiring and the search sits between roughly 10,000 and 11,000. The other route is to take the smaller figure and secure a right to more space. We price both for you. The block on this page is sized for 50, and the 50-person guide goes deeper on layout.
The growth clauses we negotiate, one line each
- Expansion option. A right to add named space, often the suite or floor next door, at set times and on set terms.
- Right of first offer. The landlord must offer you named space before marketing it to anyone else.
- Right of first refusal. You may match a third party's offer on named space. Landlords resist this one, so the first offer is easier to win.
- Sublet and assignment. The right to hand on part or all of the space, with consent that cannot be unreasonably withheld and transfers permitted on a merger or sale.
- Renewal option. A right to extend on notice, with the method for setting the rent agreed now.
- Term against the forecast. A lease no longer than the period you can honestly forecast, or one with the rights above if it is.
Lease options defines each, and your attorney should confirm how any of them reads in your lease.
Why these are settled at the letter of intent
These rights cost a landlord nothing on the day of signing, and at the letter of intent you are still the tenant being courted. A right asked for there takes a sentence. The same right raised after the lease is in draft reopens the deal and can take weeks. So we put every growth clause in the letter of intent, and your attorney then drafts the notice mechanics.
What to prepare before talking to a lease broker
- Headcount today, and the number in the plan your board has seen for 18 months out.
- How confident that plan is: the base case and the stretch case.
- The date you need to be in, and when any current lease ends.
- A monthly budget, and the neighborhoods you would consider.
Once the lease is signed: calendar the option windows
Every option is exercised by written notice inside a window, and a missed date usually ends the right. Put both ends of each window in the company calendar on the day you sign, with a reminder well before it opens. If the floor needs work, our construction management team runs it, and facilities management can run the office afterward.
Floors that fit a team of 50
Live from our listings · 6 of the 8, smallest firstA team of 50 plans on about 8,750 square feet at 175 a person. 8 floors on our book sit in the range that fits, 8,750 to 15,750 square feet, asking $50 to $200 per square foot per year on the 6 with a published rent.
- Floors
- 8
- Sizes
- 9,000-13,754 sq ft
- Asking rent
- $50-$200 / sq ft
- 151 West 26th Street, Partial 10th Floor 9,000 sq ft $64/sq ft Chelsea about 51 people
- 127 West 26th Street, Entire 7th Floor 9,500 sq ft $50/sq ft Chelsea about 54 people
- 1235 Broadway, Entire 4th Floor 9,500 sq ft $62/sq ft NoMad about 54 people
- 66 Hudson Boulevard, Partial 53rd Floor 10,517 sq ft $200/sq ft Hudson Yards about 60 people
- 1700 Broadway, Entire 26th Floor 13,266 sq ft $79/sq ft Midtown about 76 people
- 836 Broadway, Entire 2nd Floor 13,754 sq ft rent on request Union Square about 79 people
The full guide
This page is the short answer. The long one, with the numbers worked through, is here:
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Is it better to lease extra space now or negotiate a right to expand?
It depends on how sure the hiring plan is. Extra space is certain and costs rent from day one. A right of first offer costs nothing today but depends on the space coming free. Many growing companies take a modest surplus and the right together.
Can a growing company get expansion rights in any building?
No. An expansion option or a first offer depends on the building having space it can hold or offer, so they come more easily in larger buildings. Ask what rights other tenants already hold over the same space.
What happens if we outgrow the floor before the lease ends?
That is what the sublet and assignment clause is for. With workable consent language you can sublet the floor and move, where without it you may be paying for space you have left. The sublease clause entry explains the wording.
Who pays a lease broker on a growing company's deal?
In most transactions the landlord pays the broker fee. When the search is yours, Nomad works for you; the firm also offers agency leasing and owner representation.
Talk to a broker
Want this answered for your team?
Tell us three things: team size, timing, budget. A first shortlist can be ready within 24 hours, with the asking rent on every floor that publishes one.
- Within the houra broker reaches out during business hours, no automated triage
- On your sidewe work for you on your search, and the landlord usually pays our fee
- Open pricingasking rent published for 46 of 49 floors, size and address for all
- 300+ officesdelivered in New York, 2M+ sq ft leased
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