Short-Term Office Space Rentals in NYC: A Midtown Office for a Year or Two

A year or two in Midtown, as a lease

Midtown's towers are owned by institutions that put five to ten years on the table by default. A short term exists there, but you have to ask for it, and it comes in three forms: a floor the owner built ahead of any tenant, a sublease from a company that has left part of its space, and a furnished floor on a flexible term.

All three tend to come built and furnished, so there is no construction to fund on a floor you will leave in two years. In exchange, expect little improvement money and a higher rate than a long lease would carry. The short-term lease playbook explains the trade.

A short-term rental against coworking, for a Midtown team

Coworking is where month-to-month office space lives in Manhattan, at roughly $800 to $1,400 a desk each month with everything bundled. A short-term rental is a lease on space that is yours alone: your own door, your own meeting rooms, and no other company's guests in them.

• With fewer than about 15 people, coworking is usually the cheaper route and carries no commitment.
• With more than about 20, a private floor usually works out cheaper per head.
• In between, the two specific offers decide it.

Coworking, sublease or a private HQ compares every route.

Midtown itself: transit, towers and the blocks near Rockefeller Center

Midtown is the city's traditional corporate core and holds its deepest supply of full floors. Nearly every subway line passes through, and Grand Central and Penn Station are both within reach.

Rockefeller Center fills the blocks from 48th to 51st Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, with the B/D/F/M station at 47th to 50th Streets beneath it. We keep no separate hub for the complex, so the Midtown floors on this page are the closest ones we publish, and each shows its address so you can judge the walk. The Midtown guide describes the district from a tenant's side.

Check these before signing a short-term agreement in a tower

A short deal often arrives as one page with round numbers. Read for:

• The start date: signature, access, or the owner's consent to a sublease.
• What the rent includes. Electricity and annual escalations usually sit on top.
• The furniture: what stays, and who owns it when you leave.
• Restoration: whether you must strip the floor when you go.
• Holdover. Staying past the end is commonly charged at 150 to 200 percent of the last rent.
• A renewal option, in case a year or two becomes three.

Have your attorney confirm each on the actual document.

From first call to a working Midtown office

Tell us headcount, timing and budget, and say plainly that the horizon is short. A broker reaches out within the hour during business hours, and a first shortlist can be ready within 24 hours. Tours usually cover three to five floors in a single afternoon.

On a furnished or prebuilt floor, move-in is typically two to four weeks after the lease is signed, which puts a team that decides quickly at its desks six to eight weeks after the first tour. A sublease adds the weeks the building's owner needs to consent.