Choosing an Office Tenant Broker for a Startup: Vet the Person Who Runs the Search

When a startup hires an office tenant broker, it is choosing a person more than a firm. That person picks the floors you see, reads the landlord across the table and decides what to push for in the letter of intent. So vet the individual: the license they hold, the tenant leases they personally ran at your size, how many searches they are carrying, and whether they tour and negotiate themselves. Then run a ten-minute test. Ask them to describe one Manhattan submarket from memory: its buildings, its landlords and what floors there ask. You can try it on us with Bryant Park, whose floors are below.

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.

Test a Nomad broker

Updated 2026-10-03 · Nomad Group

Why the individual outweighs the firm name on a first or second floor

On a lease of a few thousand square feet, a firm's research department and its national relationships rarely come into play. What does come into play is one person's memory of recent deals, their standing with a few dozen landlords and the hours they can give you. Two brokers at the same firm can run very different searches, which is why the name on the door predicts so little.

Four things to check about the broker in front of you

License. New York licenses brokers and salespersons, and a salesperson works under a supervising broker. Either can run a good search, so ask which they are and who supervises. Our brokerage page explains the two grades.
Their own deals. Ask for tenant leases this person ran over the last two years near your size. The firm's totals do not count.
Workload. Ask how many searches they are running this month. There is no magic number, and you are listening for whether they know it.
Division of work. Ask who walks the tours with you and who negotiates the letter of intent. If those are different people, meet both.

The ten-minute submarket test

Pick a neighborhood you are considering and ask three things, with no screen and no notes. Which buildings there would you show a team our size? Who owns them, and how do those owners negotiate? What are floors asking, and what has changed lately?

A broker who works the area answers in addresses, owners' names and figures. One who does not offers adjectives and a promise to send a report.

Bryant Park makes a fair test because it is compact: office towers around the park, a short walk from Grand Central and Times Square, with the 7 train and the B/D/F/M and N/Q/R/W lines stopping at 42nd Street. The live block below shows what we list there, so you can check our broker's answer against the page. The Bryant Park guide describes the neighborhood.

When the broker who pitched is not the one who turns up

Handoffs happen, and a junior broker backed by a senior one can serve you well. What matters is that you were told. If a new face appears at the first tour, ask for a short meeting, run the same four checks and the submarket test on them, and ask how the senior person stays involved. If you signed an agreement, read how it lets you leave. The tenant representation agreement explains the exit terms to look for.

Who does the work at Nomad

The team page names the principals and directors and says what each one handles, so you can see who you would be working with before you write. There is a principal on every deal, and a broker reaches out within the hour during business hours.

On your search, we work for you. Nomad also offers agency leasing and owner representation, so ask the person you meet which buildings that touches.

Bryant Park office space available now

Live from our listings · cheapest first

4 offices are available in Bryant Park right now, from 4,109 to 17,296 square feet, asking $65 to $125 per square foot per year. The Bryant Park median is $95.50.

Floors: 4
Sizes: 4,109-17,296 sq ft
Asking rent: $65-$125 / sq ft
Median: $95.50 / sq ft

Everything available in Bryant Park, with photos and rents →

The full guide

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

Does it matter whether our tenant broker holds a broker or a salesperson license?

Less than their record does. Most people you meet on a search hold the salesperson license and are supervised by a licensed broker at their firm. What you need to know is that the firm is licensed and that this person has run office leases like yours.

How can a founder tell that a broker is carrying too many searches?

By the lag. Replies that take days, tours rescheduled twice and a shortlist that looks like the last client's are the signs. Ask the workload question before you start, then watch the first week. A stretched broker shows it early.

Can we ask a firm for a different person to run our search?

Yes, and a good firm will not take offense. Say what you are missing, whether that is experience at your size or knowledge of a neighborhood, and ask who has it. If the firm has nobody, it is better to learn that before any tours.

What should a broker be able to say about Bryant Park without notes?

Which towers suit a team your size, who owns them, roughly what floors there ask and which come furnished. The block on this page is the answer key for our own listings, so our broker's account should match it.

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