Flexible Office Space Rental for a Startup: A Short Term or a Long One?
For a startup of about 10 people, flexible office space rental comes down to one choice: a short term that costs more per square foot, or a longer one that costs less and binds you for more years. Twelve months keeps your options open. Thirty-six months usually earns a lower rent, more free rent and a larger improvement allowance. Twenty-four sits between them. Be honest about a fourth option first. Below about 15 people a coworking membership usually costs less in total, so a first private floor has to earn its place through privacy, identity or a hiring plan you believe.
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Send me floors for 10Updated 2026-10-03 · Nomad Group
The honest threshold for a 10-person startup
At roughly $800 to $1,400 a desk per month, ten coworking desks run $8,000 to $14,000, all in, with nothing to furnish and no lease-sized deposit. For a team smaller than about 15, the desks usually come out ahead of a floor of its own once every cost is added. A small team that takes its own floor anyway is buying something else:
- Privacy, when the work or the clients should not be overheard.
- Identity, when candidates and investors visit and the room has to say who you are.
- A hiring plan the founders believe, so the floor is sized for the team a year out and the move happens once.
What 12, 24 and 36 months each buy a first office
Rent per square foot, the improvement allowance and free rent all scale with the term, because a landlord recovers its costs over the years you commit to.
- 12 months: the highest rent per square foot of the three, little or no allowance, and the freedom to decide again in a year. Not every floor is offered this way.
- 24 months: the common middle. It usually prices better than a single year, and the floor has time to repay the effort of moving.
- 36 months: the lowest rent of the three and the most landlord contribution, in exchange for a commitment longer than most early forecasts.
Three ways a small team gets a short term in practice
- A pre-built floor that needs only light customization. The construction is already paid for, so fewer years are needed to justify the deal.
- A sublease from a tenant that has built and furnished the space. The term is whatever remains on that tenant's lease.
- A direct deal where you fund part of the work yourself in exchange for a shorter commitment.
A startup HQ on a short-term lease goes through each.
The costs a first-time tenant misses
A coworking invoice hides several lines that a lease prints separately. A security deposit or letter of credit is due at signing. Electricity is a separate bill, roughly $2 to $4 per square foot each year. The rent itself also rises annually, by an escalation of roughly 2.5 to 3 percent. Add all three to the comparison before deciding that a floor is cheaper than desks.
What Nomad does for a team of about 10
Send headcount, timing and budget, and a first shortlist can be ready within 24 hours, with the size and asking rent of each floor. If the numbers say stay in coworking for now, we say so. In most transactions the landlord pays the broker fee. The floors below are sized for about 10 people.
Floors that fit a team of 10
Live from our listings · smallest firstA team of 10 plans on about 1,750 square feet at 175 a person. 5 floors on our book sit in the range that fits, 1,750 to 3,150 square feet, asking $44 to $92 per square foot per year.
- Floors
- 5
- Sizes
- 2,500-2,978 sq ft
- Asking rent
- $44-$92 / sq ft
- 29 West 17th Street, Partial 7th Floor 2,500 sq ft $60/sq ft Union Square about 14 people
- 45 Broadway, Partial 12th Floor 2,624 sq ft $60/sq ft FiDi about 15 people
- 153 West 27th Street, Partial 11th Floor 2,937 sq ft $60/sq ft Chelsea about 17 people
- 900 Broadway, Partial 9th Floor 2,940 sq ft $92/sq ft Flatiron about 17 people
- 153 W 27th Street, Partial 3rd Floor 2,978 sq ft $44/sq ft Chelsea about 17 people
The full guide
This page is the short answer. The long one, with the numbers worked through, is here:
Related topics
- Flexible Office Spaces for Rent in Manhattan: Where to Find Them, by Neighborhood
- Flexible Workspace Solutions for a High-Growth Startup: Who Runs the Office After Signing
- Landmark Flexible Office Space: A Prime Manhattan Address on a Shorter, Furnished Basis
- Flexible Office Space Through a Local Broker Who Publishes the Rents
Should a 10-person startup stay in coworking for another year?
If headcount is still a guess, usually yes. Coworking absorbs uncertainty, and under about 15 people it tends to cost less in total. Revisit when you can forecast the team a year ahead, or when the monthly bill makes a floor look close. Flexible lease or coworking runs both columns.
Will a landlord give a first-time tenant a one-year lease?
Some will, on some floors. A year is achievable, most often on space that is already built or on a sublease with about that long left. Landlords generally prefer two or three years, so a search limited to 12 months sees a shorter list.
How much more does a short term cost per square foot?
Our short-term playbook puts the premium at 10 to 20 percent over the equivalent long-term rent, with smaller concessions alongside. Whether that is worth it depends on what a wrong long lease would cost you. Compare the total across the period you can actually forecast.
Is three years too long for a startup that might double?
Not if the lease gives you ways to adjust. A right to sublet and a renewal or expansion option make a three-year term far less rigid than it sounds. Without them, a team that expects to double within the term should lean shorter.
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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