Commercial Leasing Broker for Startups: What a Landlord Asks of a Young Company
A commercial leasing broker for startups spends much of the proposal stage on security, because a landlord looking at a young company with thin financials makes three asks. The first is a security deposit or letter of credit, sized to the company's finances. The second is a good guy guarantee from a founder. The third is a term: a one-year lease is possible, two and three years are more common, and a shorter term raises the rent per square foot. Nomad negotiates the shape of each ask, not only the amount. In most transactions the landlord pays the broker fee, and no standard fee exists.
Rather have a broker answer it for your team?Tell us team size and timing. A broker reaches out within the hour during business hours.
Send me these floorsUpdated 2026-10-03 · Nomad Group
The first ask: a deposit or letter of credit sized to your financials
A deposit is typically several months of rent, and the figure climbs for a company without years of financial statements. It is a credit judgment, not a formula, and the first number quoted is the landlord's opening position. We work on four parts of it.
- The amount, argued from an organized package of your financials and funding.
- The form. A letter of credit from your bank keeps the cash on your side, at the cost of the bank's fee.
- A burn-down, so part of the security comes back after each year of rent paid on time.
- The conditions for drawing on it, which your attorney should confirm in the lease.
The security deposit entry covers each in detail.
The second ask: a good guy guarantee from a founder
A good guy guarantee is a limited personal guarantee: a founder stands behind the rent only for as long as the company occupies the space. It ends once the company gives the required notice, moves out, returns the keys and is paid up to that day.
It is not a right to end the lease, and the company still owes the remaining rent. We negotiate the notice period, which founder signs, and what the guarantee covers. Good guy guarantee explains the release conditions, and an attorney should read the wording before anyone signs.
The third ask: a term, and how it trades against the other two
Landlords prefer longer commitments, and a startup usually wants a short one. A shorter term costs more per square foot, but it also limits what the landlord has at risk, which can ease the conversation about security. More security can sometimes stand in for a personal guarantee. These are trades, and we set them out side by side so you choose the mix. Short-term leases for a startup HQ prices the term side.
The block on this page shows the lower-priced floors we list. A lower rent means a smaller total commitment, and a deposit counted in months of rent shrinks with it.
What Nomad does at the proposal stage for a company with thin financials
We put security into the request for proposal from the start, so each landlord prices it alongside the rent and it is not sprung on you later. We send the financial package once, in a form a landlord can read quickly. And we compare the answers on total cash committed, not on rent alone. Nothing here promises that a landlord will reduce its ask. It means the ask is negotiated and not simply accepted.
Floors asking under $60 per square foot
Live from our listings · 6 of the 11, cheapest first11 of the 46 floors with a published rent ask under $60 per square foot per year, from 2,978 to 17,610 square feet.
- Floors
- 11
- Sizes
- 2,978-17,610 sq ft
- Asking rent
- $43-$59 / sq ft
- 153 W 27th Street, Partial 3rd Floor 2,978 sq ft $44/sq ft Chelsea about 17 people
- 237 West 27th Street, Entire 11th Floor 7,158 sq ft $44/sq ft Chelsea about 41 people
- 127 West 26th Street, Entire 7th Floor 9,500 sq ft $50/sq ft Chelsea about 54 people
- 213 West 35th Street, 11th Floor 6,100 sq ft $52/sq ft Penn Plaza about 35 people
- 151 West 26th Street, 12th Floor Penthouse 17,610 sq ft $56/sq ft Chelsea about 101 people
- 104 West 27th Street, Entire 9th Floor 7,047 sq ft $59/sq ft Chelsea about 40 people
The full guide
This page is the short answer. The long one, with the numbers worked through, is here:
Related topics
- Commercial Property Brokerage: Choosing an Office Neighborhood With a Method
- Commercial Property Brokers in NYC: Office Space, Across Manhattan
- How Much Space? How Commercial Property Leasing Agents Size Startup Offices
- Commercial Real Estate Advisory for NYC Startups: Four Decisions Before the Search
How many months of deposit will a landlord ask a startup for?
There is no posted schedule. The ask follows the landlord's reading of your credit, so an early-stage company can see substantially more than an established one. Treat the first figure as a starting point.
Can a startup avoid a personal guarantee altogether?
Sometimes. A larger letter of credit, a guarantee from a parent company or a shorter term can each take its place, depending on the landlord. Each has a cost, usually cash set aside, so weigh that against the personal risk.
Is a letter of credit better than a cash deposit for a young company?
Often, if your bank will issue one, because the cash stays in the business. The tradeoffs are the bank's annual fee and whatever collateral it requires. Confirm the mechanics with your bank before you offer one.
What does a leasing broker cost a startup?
In most transactions the landlord pays the broker fee, so the startup usually pays nothing out of pocket. Commissions have no standard or regulated rate and are negotiated lease by lease. Ask any broker you interview, this firm included, what it wants signed before it requests a proposal on your behalf.
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
Or call 646-688-3158
