Pre-Built Office Spaces for Startups: Pre-Built or Custom, in Weeks and Dollars
A pre-built office is a suite the landlord finished before any tenant signed: typically a pantry, a couple of meeting rooms and open space for desks. For a startup of about 15, the choice between that and a custom buildout comes down to two columns. Time: a pre-built is usually occupied two to four weeks after signing, while a custom office needs 10 to 16 weeks of design, permits and construction. Money: a pre-built takes little cash beyond the deposit, and a custom office takes whatever the buildout costs above the landlord's allowance, plus furniture and cabling. We price both columns on real floors before you choose.
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Price pre-built vs customUpdated 2026-10-03 · Nomad Group
The time column: signature to desks
- Pre-built: two to four weeks. The time goes to executing the lease, insurance certificates and getting internet installed.
- Custom: 10 to 16 weeks. Design takes two or three of them, permits and long-lead orders another three or four, and construction six to nine.
Counted from the first tour, a team that decides quickly is working in six to eight weeks on a pre-built, and in four to six months when the office is built for it. For a company of 15, that gap is roughly a quarter or more of rent paid somewhere else.
The money column: what a 15-person startup pays up front
At 175 square feet per person, 15 people need about 2,625 square feet. Our buildout guide puts custom construction at $50 to $150 a square foot, which on that area is roughly $131,000 to $394,000. New furniture at $2,000 to $4,000 a desk adds $30,000 to $60,000.
An improvement allowance offsets part of the construction. It is usually paid against invoices once the work is done, so the tenant funds the job first, and furniture and cabling generally sit outside it.
On a pre-built the landlord has already spent that money and recovers it in the rent. You pay a deposit, the first month, and for anything the suite lacks. Where buildout money goes breaks the custom budget down by trade.
So does a pre-built cost a startup less?
In cash before move-in, almost always. Over the whole lease, it depends on the term. A pre-built usually carries a higher asking rent than unfinished space under the same roof, since the build cost has been folded into it. On a commitment of a year or two that premium is small next to a buildout you would barely use. On a long term, a raw floor with free rent and an allowance tends to come out ahead.
A 15-person startup rarely knows its headcount three years out, which is why the pre-built is usually the safer choice at this size.
What we look for in a pre-built on a startup's behalf
- Room count against how the team works: enough doors for the calls you actually take.
- Space for the next few hires without rebuilding anything.
- Condition as delivered, checked on a walk with a punch list. A suite photographed when new can look tired after a tenant or two.
- Whether furniture is included, and who removes it at the end.
- The term the landlord will accept, and a renewal option so a short lease does not leave you exposed.
The floors below are the ones on our book sized for a team of about 15.
Floors that fit a team of 15
Live from our listings · 6 of the 8, smallest firstA team of 15 plans on about 2,625 square feet at 175 a person. 8 floors on our book sit in the range that fits, 2,625 to 4,725 square feet, asking $44 to $115 per square foot per year.
- Floors
- 8
- Sizes
- 2,937-4,109 sq ft
- Asking rent
- $44-$115 / sq ft
- 153 West 27th Street, Partial 11th Floor 2,937 sq ft $60/sq ft Chelsea about 17 people
- 115 West 30th Street, Partial 4th Floor 3,500 sq ft $55/sq ft Chelsea about 20 people
- 110 Greene Street, Partial 5th Floor 3,750 sq ft $95/sq ft SoHo about 21 people
- 54 West 21st Street, Partial 4th Floor 3,960 sq ft $72/sq ft Flatiron about 23 people
- 900 Broadway, Suite 202 4,000 sq ft $115/sq ft Flatiron about 23 people
- 1450 Broadway, Entire 40th Floor 4,109 sq ft $95/sq ft Bryant Park about 23 people
The full guide
This page is the short answer. The long one, with the numbers worked through, is here:
Related topics
- Move-In Ready Flexible Office Space for Rent: Signing to Desks, Week by Week
- Prebuilt Office Space in NYC for Lease, and What You Pay Beyond the Rent
- Flexible Lease Terms on Pre-Built Office Spaces: What Is Fixed and What Still Moves
- Fully Furnished Private Office Suites: What Comes With the Suite, and What Does Not
Can a startup take a pre-built now and build a custom office later?
Yes, and many do. A short term on a pre-built buys time to learn how the team uses space, and the custom office that follows is sized on evidence instead of a guess. Start the second search nine to twelve months before the first lease ends, since a custom office takes four to six months from the first tour.
Will a landlord build a custom office for a 15-person startup on a short lease?
Rarely on generous terms. A landlord recovers construction money over the length of the lease, so a short term supports a small allowance and the tenant funds the rest. That is the main reason a startup wanting a short commitment ends up in space that is already built.
Is a pre-built the same as a sublease?
No. A pre-built is leased directly from the landlord. A sublease is another tenant's space for what remains of its lease, often furnished and often cheaper, with an end date you do not control. Both skip construction. The sublease playbook covers the checks.
Where can we see every pre-built floor Nomad publishes?
On the furnished and prebuilt floors page, which shows each one with its size, asking rent and what the listing says is included. The block on this page narrows the whole book to floors that fit about 15 people, finished or not.
Talk to a broker
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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.
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- Open pricingasking rent published for 46 of 49 floors, size and address for all
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