Office Space for Rent for Startups in NYC: The Cost per Person

The per-person math for a first rented office

One person takes about 175 rentable square feet, counting a share of the meeting rooms and the kitchen. So the monthly base rent for each person is 175 times the rent per square foot, divided by twelve.

Say a floor asks $66 a square foot: 175 times $66 is $11,550 a year for each person, or about $963 a month. At that example rate a team of 18 needs 3,150 square feet and pays $17,325 a month in base rent. What office space really costs runs the same sum at other sizes.

What to add to the rent before comparing

• Electricity: roughly $2 to $4 a square foot over a year, which at 175 square feet is about $29 to $58 per head each month.
• The annual increase, about 2.5 to 3 percent, which makes the final year more expensive than the first.
• Internet, insurance and any cleaning the building does not include.

Base rent is the largest line. These are what turn it into the amount that leaves the account each month.

The one-time costs of a first office

A first office also costs money before the first month is billed.

• Security: a deposit or letter of credit worth several months of rent, more for a young company. It comes back, but it has to be found at signing.
• Furniture, $2,000 to $4,000 per desk if bought new, and cabling.
• Moving and setup.
• Any buildout cost beyond the landlord's allowance. Custom work runs $50 to $150 for each square foot.

A furnished or pre-built floor removes most of this list, which is why it is the usual first rented office.

Rented floor or coworking desks at 15 to 20 people

Desks in a Manhattan coworking space cost $800 to $1,400 apiece each month, all in. For 18 people that is $14,400 to $25,200 a month, and it rises with every hire.

• Up to about 15 people, the desks are usually the cheaper total.
• From about 20 up, the floor usually is.
• Between those, it comes down to the particular deals.

So at 18 the answer is a comparison, not a rule. Put the full monthly cost per person of a real floor beside your current desk rate. Coworking, sublease or a private HQ covers the other routes.

What Nomad sends back: floors with the per-person figure worked out

Tell us headcount, the date and what you can spend each month. A broker reaches out within the hour during business hours, and a first shortlist can be ready within 24 hours. Each floor on it comes with its size, its asking rent, the monthly base rent and the cost per person at your headcount, with furnished floors marked. The block below holds floors that suit about 18 people. In most transactions the landlord pays the broker fee.