What the Board Asks: Commercial Real Estate Brokerage for a Venture-Backed Startup
For a venture-backed startup, commercial real estate brokerage is mostly the work of making a lease answer the board's questions before the board asks them. How much space: enough for the headcount at the midpoint between this round and the next, not today's. How long: a term no longer than the company can forecast. When: tour before the round closes, sign after the money arrives. And if the next round slips: sublet and assignment rights negotiated at the start. Nomad Property Group is a licensed New York real estate broker, and in most transactions the landlord pays the broker fee.
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Size my office between roundsUpdated 2026-10-03 · Nomad Group
Why this much space: size for the midpoint between rounds
A Series A team is usually 15 to 30 people and may be 40 to 80 by its Series B. An office sized for the day of signing is usually too small within a year. An office sized for the Series B headcount is paid for long before it is used. The workable answer is the midpoint: take the 18-month headcount from the plan the board approved, not the stretch case, and multiply by 175 square feet per person. A team heading to 45 is looking at roughly 7,900 square feet, which is what the floors below are sized for.
If the plan is too uncertain to name a midpoint, ask for a right to expand into adjoining space, so growth does not have to mean a move.
How long are we committed: a term matched to what you can forecast
Landlords prefer long leases. A company between rounds should prefer a term it can see the end of. A useful test: the lease should not outlast the current runway plus one more raise. Shorter terms cost more per square foot and earn smaller concessions, and the board should see that trade stated plainly. The figure that goes in the minutes is the total obligation, the term multiplied by the annual cost. A startup headquarters on a short lease prices the shorter structures.
When do we sign: sequencing the lease against the raise
Tour before the round closes and sign after the money is in the bank. First tour to desks takes about a quarter, so a company that starts touring at term sheet moves in roughly a quarter after closing, which is when the new hires need somewhere to sit. A company that waits for the wire before it starts spends its first funded quarter looking at floor plans.
Two cautions. A buildout's costs arrive soon after signing, so signing just after a close keeps construction out of the old runway. And landlords read funding news, so a founder touring the week after an announcement has shown how eager the company is. Having a broker carry the negotiation keeps that out of the room.
What if the next round does not come: the way out
This is the board's downside question, and the answer is negotiated at the start or not at all. Ask for the right to sublet without unreasonable refusal, and for assignment to be allowed if the company is acquired. A team that stalls can then recover much of the cost by subletting space it no longer needs. Personal exposure is usually handled through a good guy guarantee, which ends once the company hands back the space with rent paid up. Your attorney should confirm how each of these reads in the lease. Planning from Series A to Series B covers the full sequence.
What the brokerage does between rounds, and who pays for it
We run the search, compare the landlords' proposals on total cost, and negotiate the letter of intent and then the lease, working beside your attorney. For a company with a board we also draft the one-page memo the board will vote on: the finalists, the total obligation on each, and a recommendation. In most transactions the landlord pays the broker fee. On your search, we work for you; Nomad also offers agency leasing and owner representation, so ask which buildings on your shortlist that applies to. The brokerage page sets out the service.
Floors that fit a team of 45
Live from our listings · 6 of the 10, smallest firstA team of 45 plans on about 7,875 square feet at 175 a person. 10 floors on our book sit in the range that fits, 7,875 to 14,175 square feet, asking $43 to $200 per square foot per year on the 7 with a published rent.
- Floors
- 10
- Sizes
- 8,230-13,754 sq ft
- Asking rent
- $43-$200 / sq ft
- 45 West 45th Street, Entire 10th Floor 8,230 sq ft rent on request Midtown about 47 people
- 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
- 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:
Related topics
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- Commercial Tenant Representation Services for a Relocation at Lease End
Should a Series A company lease for its current headcount to save cash?
Usually not. A floor that fits today's team is usually outgrown within the year, and a second move inside the lease costs more than a year of some empty desks. Size for the midpoint and protect the downside with sublet rights.
What does a board want to see before it approves a lease?
Three things, usually in this order: the total obligation over the term, the protection if plans change, and evidence that the rent is in line with the market. Published asking rents help with the last. The rent page shows current figures by neighborhood.
Can the office search begin before the round has closed?
Yes, and it should. Shortlisting and touring take weeks and bind the company to no floor. The lease signature is what waits for the money.
Will a landlord ask a venture-backed startup for more security?
Often. A young company without profits should expect a landlord to ask for more security, usually as a letter of credit, and should negotiate a schedule that reduces it after a period of rent paid on time. Count it in the cash plan, because it is money the company cannot spend.
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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