Real Estate Market Research for Startups: Do You Need a Research Company?
A startup looking for a first or second office rarely needs a real estate market research company. Published research reports on boroughs and submarkets and on the quarter's largest leases, and a requirement for 10 to 20 people sits below that resolution. What a startup needs is narrower: rent ranges at its size, a few close comps and a calendar. A broker supplies those as part of the search. In most transactions the landlord pays the broker fee. The useful work is knowing which questions to put to whoever supplies your research.
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.
Get research for my searchUpdated 2026-10-03 · Nomad Group
What published research covers, and why 10 to 20 people falls below it
Market research is built on aggregates: availability and rents for a borough or a submarket, and the quarter's largest leases by name. Those leases run to tens or hundreds of thousands of square feet. A team of 10 to 20 needs roughly 1,750 to 3,500 square feet, and deals of that size are not reported one by one in any published study.
So the research is accurate and still does not answer your question. It tells you the direction of the market. It does not tell you what a small floor on a side street should cost.
What a startup needs instead: ranges, a few comps, a calendar
- Rent ranges at your size, in the neighborhoods your team can reach.
- A few close comps: recent leases for floors like yours, with the concessions.
- A calendar: the date you must be in, counted back. On a pre-built floor, allow six to eight weeks from the first tour; with a custom buildout, four to six months.
The first is public. The second is not. The third is yours.
Four questions for whoever supplies your research
- Which signed deals at my size is this based on?
- What is the effective rent on those deals, against the asking rent?
- How long has this floor been on the market?
- What are my alternatives, and what do they cost on a like-for-like basis?
A source that can answer all four is giving you research. One that answers with a submarket average is giving you a report. How to choose a tenant rep broker sets out what else to ask.
What Nomad's research costs a startup
It is part of the search, not a separate product. On your search, we work for you: we bring the ranges, the comps from our own deal records and a comparison of each offer on net effective rent. In most transactions the landlord pays the broker fee. If you are not yet certain you will move, say so at the outset and ask what the research stage would have you sign.
When to start, and what is already public
Start when you know the date. What happens next is quick: a broker reaches out within the hour during business hours, and a first shortlist can be ready within 24 hours.
Two sources are open to read before then. The market report gives availability by submarket, and the rent table gives asking rents by neighborhood. The block below shows floors for a team of about 12, the kind of requirement published research passes over.
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
- 45 Broadway, Partial 12th Floor 2,624 sq ft $60/sq ft FiDi about 15 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
The full guide
This page is the short answer. The long one, with the numbers worked through, is here:
Related topics
- Commercial Real Estate Market Research for Office Tenants: What to Read, What It Means
- Comparative Market Analysis for an Office Lease: Building a Comp Set and Using It
- Data-Driven Real Estate Analytics for a Startup Lease: The Few Numbers That Decide It
- Data-Driven Insights for NYC Office Tenants: What the Quarter Means for Your Lease
Should a startup pay for market research before its first office search?
Usually there is nothing to pay for. The published material is open, and the deal-level research comes with a broker's search. Spend the effort on your own numbers: headcount, date and budget.
Can Nomad recommend a market research company?
We do not rank or name research firms. For an office search at startup size, the questions on this page matter more than the supplier, and any broker or researcher should be able to answer them.
What research does a 12-person team need before touring?
Three things: a size, which at 175 square feet a person is about 2,100 square feet; the asking rent range for the neighborhoods on its list; and a date. How to choose a neighborhood helps with the list.
Does Nomad sell a market data product?
No. Nomad is a licensed New York real estate broker. Its research is the quarterly report and the brokers' knowledge of signed deals, used on searches.
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
