Private Office Spaces in NYC: A First Office for 10 to 12, Sized and Toured
A private office space is a suite or floor leased to one company, with its own door and its own rooms. A small business taking its first one for 10 to 12 people should settle four questions before touring: how many square feet, furnished or not, by what date, and at what monthly ceiling. Plan on 175 rentable square feet per person, which puts the team at about 1,750 to 2,100 square feet. Many private offices in Manhattan come furnished or pre-built and can be in use within two to four weeks of signing. The floors shown lower down suit about 12 people, and all of them are in Manhattan.
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Find my first officeUpdated 2026-10-03 · Nomad Group
Before the tour: how much space do 10 to 12 people need?
The planning figure covers more than a desk. It includes each person's share of the meeting room, the phone booths and the pantry. Ten people come to 1,750 square feet and twelve to 2,100. If you are hiring, add 15 to 25 percent.
Rentable is not the area you can use. Landlords measure a suite with a share of the building's lobby and corridors counted in, so what you can furnish is 15 to 25 percent smaller. A suite listed at 2,100 square feet leaves roughly 1,575 to 1,785 to lay out. Our calculator turns a headcount into square feet and a monthly rent.
Before the tour: furnished, pre-built or bare?
- Furnished: desks and chairs are in the space, and you bring laptops.
- Pre-built: the landlord has already built the rooms, the pantry and the lighting to a move-in standard, and you may need to add furniture.
- Bare: construction comes first, typically 10 to 16 weeks of it, at a cost beyond what the landlord contributes.
For a first office of this size, furnished or pre-built is usually right, because nobody on a 12-person team should be managing construction. Flex by Nomad is the furnished and serviced option, with lease lengths of 12, 24 or 36 months.
On the tour: what a first-time tenant should look at
See three or four candidates in one afternoon, and bring the person who will sign and the person who will run the office. In each one, check what photographs hide:
- Daylight at the hours you actually work.
- Noise, with the door shut, for a full minute.
- Meeting rooms and phone booths, counted against how your team spends its day.
- Air conditioning hours, and what it costs to run it late.
- The elevators at a busy time, and which internet providers serve the building.
- Whether the entrance and the restrooms are yours or shared.
The tour checklist goes further.
After the tour: how long until the keys
Counted from the first tour, a small team that decides quickly is at its desks in six to eight weeks on a pre-built floor. The time goes to landlord proposals, a letter of intent, and the lease, which your attorney reviews. A space that needs construction stretches the total to four to six months. Start from the date you need to be in and count back.
To begin, send headcount, timing and budget. A first shortlist can be ready within 24 hours, and on your search, we work for you.
Floors that fit a team of 12
Live from our listings · 6 of the 7, smallest firstA team of 12 plans on about 2,100 square feet at 175 a person. 7 floors on our book sit in the range that fits, 2,100 to 3,780 square feet, asking $44 to $95 per square foot per year.
- Floors
- 7
- Sizes
- 2,500-3,750 sq ft
- Asking rent
- $44-$95 / sq ft
- 29 West 17th Street, Partial 7th Floor 2,500 sq ft $60/sq ft Union Square about 14 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
- 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
The full guide
This page is the short answer. The long one, with the numbers worked through, is here:
Related topics
- Private Offices for Lease in NYC: The Steps, and How Long Each Takes
- Rent or Lease a Private Office: Which a Startup Should Do
- Flexible Workspace for Rent: A Private Office on 12, 24 or 36 Months
- Flexible Workspace Services: What Comes With a Serviced Private Floor
Do private offices in Manhattan come furnished?
Many do. Furnished and pre-built space is common on shorter leases and in subleases, where the previous tenant's setup often stays. Other offices are delivered empty or need construction. Office space for 10 people shows the floors in that size band.
Is 2,000 square feet enough for 12 people?
Close. Twelve people at the standard figure need 2,100 rentable square feet, so 2,000 works with a slightly tighter layout, and a dense open plan at about 140 square feet each would need only 1,680. Look at the usable area and the number of enclosed rooms, not the headline number alone.
How many private offices should a small business tour before choosing?
Usually three to five in a first afternoon. With only two there is no real comparison, and past six in one day the offices start to blur together. Revisit the best two at a different hour before asking for proposals.
What should a small business have ready before leasing its first office?
Three numbers, a set of financials and an attorney. The numbers are headcount, move-in date and monthly budget. The financials matter because the landlord sets the security deposit on its reading of your credit, and a clear package often brings the ask down. The attorney reviews the lease before you sign 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
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