An Office Deal a Board Can Approve: Brokerage for a Venture-Backed Company

Full-service commercial brokerage means one firm runs the search and the lease, then what comes after: construction, furniture and cabling, and the day-to-day running of the office. A venture-backed company needs three specific things from it. The search has to be timed against the raise. The security a landlord asks of a young company, a deposit or letter of credit and usually a good guy guarantee, has to be shaped to a young balance sheet. And proposals have to be compared on total cost over the term, because that is the number a board approves. Nomad does all three on your search.

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Updated 2026-10-03 · Nomad Group

Timing the search against the raise

The sequence that works is to tour while the round is being negotiated and sign once it has closed. First tour to occupied desks takes about a quarter, so a team that begins at term sheet moves in about three months after the close, as the new hires arrive. A team that begins only when the money is in the bank loses that quarter.

Size for the midpoint between rounds, not for today. A team of 25 with 45 in the plan should tour around 8,000 square feet, or take less with a written right to expand. From Series A to Series B works the sizing through.

One caution: landlords read funding news. A fresh raise makes the company a stronger credit and a more eager buyer in the same week, a good reason for the broker to carry the negotiation.

What a landlord asks of a funded but young company

A company with a recent raise and little operating history is thin security in a landlord's eyes, whatever the bank balance.

A security deposit or letter of credit. It is sized as a credit decision, so a young company is asked for more. The amount, a burn-down after each year of rent paid on time, and the form are all negotiable.
A good guy guarantee. A principal guarantees the rent personally, but only until the company gives notice, moves out, returns the keys and is paid up. The notice period and who signs are the terms to work on. The good guy guarantee explains the variants.

No broker can promise what a landlord will accept. What we do is present the financials well and trade between the two: a larger deposit for a narrower guarantee, or the reverse. Have your attorney confirm the release conditions on the actual lease.

A comparison a board can approve: total cost, not asking rent

Boards ask about the total obligation, the downside protection and the comparables. Total obligation is the term times the annual cost. As a worked example, say a floor of 8,000 square feet asks $75 on a five-year term; that is a $3 million commitment before escalations, and it is the figure that goes in the minutes.

So we convert every landlord proposal to one basis: rent across the whole term, less free rent and the improvement allowance, plus escalations, electricity and whatever the buildout costs beyond the allowance. The finalists go into a one-page memo with the total on each and the sublet and assignment rights beside it, since the right to assign the lease in an acquisition is the protection a board looks for.

Why the floors shown are in Flatiron

Flatiron is the middle of Midtown South, the corridor where venture-backed teams cluster. Our market report tracks how much of the year's AI and tech leasing has landed in that orbit, and why prewar lofts with flexible floors suit a Series A to B company that expects to double. The floors below are the ones we list there.

Nomad is a licensed New York real estate broker and also offers agency leasing and owner representation, so ask whether any Flatiron building you tour is one it leases for the owner.

Flatiron office space available now

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The full guide

This page is the short answer. The long one, with the numbers worked through, is here:

What does full service add for a company between funding rounds?

Continuity. The firm that negotiated the allowance also manages the buildout that spends it, so nobody learns after signing that the money does not cover the plan. It also means one schedule: design can start during the lease negotiation.

Will a landlord waive the guarantee because we just raised?

Sometimes, and nobody can promise it. A recent raise with no operating history often brings a larger deposit request, not a smaller one. Realistic asks are a good guy guarantee with a short notice period, signed by one named individual, or a larger deposit or letter of credit in exchange for no guarantee.

Who pays for brokerage on a venture-backed company's lease?

In most transactions the landlord pays the broker fee, and the lease terms decide it on each deal. A board will want the engagement on paper too, so before the search starts ask any broker, Nomad included, what the company would sign and whether a fee could ever fall to it. Our brokerage page covers the rest of the service.

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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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