Office Leasing for NYC Startups: Ask for the Full Monthly Number First
Office leasing for a New York startup goes better when the first number you see is the full one. Asking rent is quoted per square foot per year, and it leaves out electricity, annual escalations, the security deposit, furniture, cabling and any buildout cost the landlord's allowance does not reach. So before any tour, ask each leasing company for the all-in monthly cost of two floors it would show you. A company that knows its buildings can produce that figure. One that sends back only the asking rent has shown you how the search would go. This page sets out the method for a team of about 20.
Rather have a broker answer it for your team?Tell us team size and timing. A broker reaches out within the hour during business hours.
Send my all-in numberUpdated 2026-10-03 · Nomad Group
Why a 20-person startup cannot budget from asking rent alone
Asking rent is the largest line and the only one in the listing. A first lease also carries these.
- Electricity, at roughly $2 to $4 per square foot per year.
- Escalations of roughly 2.5 to 3 percent a year, so year three costs more than year one. Escalations explains how they are written.
- A security deposit or a letter of credit, sized in months of rent.
- Furniture and cabling, which a furnished floor already has in place.
- Buildout cost above the allowance, when the space needs work.
What office space really costs prices each of these in turn.
From a rent per square foot to a monthly figure, step by step
The method is the same for any floor, and it takes a minute.
- Size. Multiply headcount by 175 square feet a person. For 20 people that is 3,500 square feet.
- Annual rent. Multiply the square feet by the asking rate. Say a floor asks $60: 3,500 times $60 is $210,000 a year in that example.
- Monthly rent. Divide by 12, which gives $17,500 in the same example.
- Electricity. Say it runs $3 per square foot per year: 3,500 square feet then adds $875 a month in electricity.
- One-time costs. List the security, the furniture and cabling, and any buildout beyond the allowance separately, because they are due at the start.
The office space calculator runs the first four steps for any headcount. The floors below fit about 20 people, and each shows its own rent.
The test: two floors, one all-in number each, before any tour
Ask every leasing company you are considering for the same thing, in writing. A good answer has six parts: the monthly rent at the ask, electricity, what the rent becomes in year two, the security expressed in months, an estimate for furniture and cabling, and a plain statement of whether the floor is ready to use or needs a buildout. It also states its assumptions, so you can see where the estimate is soft.
A weak answer repeats the asking rent, says the rest depends, and suggests touring first. That company is not hiding anything. It simply has not priced its own floors, and you would be the one doing it later.
What Nomad hands a startup before the first tour
For each floor on your shortlist you get that all-in monthly number, built on asking rents we already publish. Once landlords respond, their proposals are compared on effective rent, with free rent, the allowance and escalations priced over the term. Where a floor needs work, the buildout is priced by a firm that has 300+ offices delivered, so the allowance is tested against a real scope.
Every floor we list is in Manhattan. On your search, we work for you. Nomad also offers agency leasing and owner representation.
Floors that fit a team of 20
Live from our listings · 6 of the 20, smallest firstA team of 20 plans on about 3,500 square feet at 175 a person. 20 floors on our book sit in the range that fits, 3,500 to 6,300 square feet, asking $50 to $135 per square foot per year.
- Floors
- 20
- Sizes
- 3,500-6,100 sq ft
- Asking rent
- $50-$135 / sq ft
- 54 West 21st Street, Partial 4th Floor 3,960 sq ft $72/sq ft Flatiron about 23 people
- 1450 Broadway, Entire 40th Floor 4,109 sq ft $95/sq ft Bryant Park about 23 people
- 825 Third Avenue, Partial 29th Floor 5,230 sq ft $89/sq ft Grand Central about 30 people
- 30 West 21st Street, Penthouse floor 5,250 sq ft $115/sq ft Flatiron about 30 people
- 276 Fifth Avenue, 9th Floor 5,500 sq ft $52/sq ft Flatiron about 31 people
- 503-511 Broadway, Penthouse 5,552 sq ft $125/sq ft SoHo about 32 people
The full guide
This page is the short answer. The long one, with the numbers worked through, is here:
Related topics
- Choosing an Office Tenant Broker for a Startup: Vet the Person Who Runs the Search
- Checking an Office Tenant Brokerage's Track Record: The Reference Call
- Commercial Real Estate Brokerages, Tested by Where Their Space Comes From
- Office Lease Experts in NYC: What Expertise Looks Like From Letter of Intent to Lease
Is an all-in monthly number a quote from the landlord?
No. It is an estimate assembled from the asking rent and stated assumptions, made before any negotiation. The signed figures depend on the free rent, the allowance and the escalation you negotiate, which is why the estimate should show its working.
Which costs does a first-time tenant most easily leave out?
The one-time ones. Furniture runs $2,000 to $4,000 a desk, cabling and moving come on top, and a custom buildout runs $50 to $150 a square foot before the landlord's allowance is applied. None of that appears in a rent per square foot.
How does a furnished floor change the all-in figure?
It removes most of the one-time costs and shortens the wait. A furnished or prebuilt floor is usually ready two to four weeks after the lease is signed. The trade is in the rate: shorter terms carry higher rent per square foot, so compare the totals and not the headline.
Can a founder work out the number without talking to a leasing company?
Partly. The rent and electricity steps need only a headcount and a published asking rent. The building-specific items, such as the security a landlord will want and what a buildout would cost there, are where a company that knows the building earns its place.
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
Or call 646-688-3158
