Short-Term Lease on Commercial Property in NYC: Office Floors, Direct or by Sublease
A short-term lease on commercial property in NYC runs one to three years, where the market standard is five to ten. The commercial property we handle is office space, and every floor we publish is in Manhattan. There are two ways to hold a short term. A direct lease is signed with the building's owner, usually on a prebuilt or furnished floor. A sublease is signed with a tenant that no longer needs its space, and lasts only as long as that tenant's own lease. We source both for you and set them side by side. FiDi's floors are shown below.
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Send me the FiDi floorsUpdated 2026-10-03 · Nomad Group
What we cover: office space, in Manhattan
Commercial property is a wide term. It takes in storefronts, warehouses and medical suites as well as offices, and each is leased under different customs. Our brokerage work and our published listings are office floors, all of them in Manhattan. If that is what you need for a year or two, this page applies; for a shop or a warehouse it does not.
On an office floor, a year is about the shortest term a landlord will sign directly, and two or three years is more common.
The sublease route to a short term: discount, remaining term, consent
A sublease exists because another company's plan changed and it is still paying for space it does not use. Three things define it:
- The discount. Our sublease playbook puts sublease pricing 10 to 25 percent under direct deals, often with the furniture included, and the gap widens as the remaining term gets shorter.
- The remaining term. You get what is left on the original lease and no more. Renewal options almost never pass through.
- The landlord's consent. The building's owner must approve the sublease in writing before it takes effect, which usually takes weeks. The sublease should say what happens to your deposit if consent never comes.
The direct route: a short lease signed with the building's owner
A short-term direct lease is usually on a floor the owner has already built, sometimes furnished. It asks more per square foot than a sublease, and you get things a subtenant does not: your contract is with the landlord, a renewal option can be negotiated, and your tenancy does not depend on another company paying its rent.
Choose the sublease when the time left fits your plan and the space works as it stands. Choose the direct lease when you may want to stay.
Before signing either kind of short-term lease
- On a sublease, read the original lease as well as the sublease. Its rules on hours, alterations and restoration flow down to you.
- Ask for evidence that the sublandlord's rent is current. If its lease is terminated, yours can end with it.
- Fix the start date, and what happens if the space is delivered late.
- Settle who owns the furniture and what condition the floor must be returned in.
- Check the holdover rate. A short term ends soon.
These are legal questions as well as business ones, so your attorney should confirm each against the documents.
Where: FiDi's floors, and the rest of Manhattan
The block below shows the floors we list in FiDi, Manhattan's original downtown: modern towers, harbor views, and the 4/5, 2/3, R/W, 1 and J/Z trains at Fulton Street and Wall Street, with PATH at the World Trade Center. The FiDi hub carries every one, and the other submarkets have hubs of their own.
FiDi office space available now
Live from our listings · cheapest first4 offices are available in FiDi right now, from 2,624 to 6,997 square feet, asking $60 to $115 per square foot per year. The FiDi median is $71.50.
- Floors
- 4
- Sizes
- 2,624-6,997 sq ft
- Asking rent
- $60-$115 / sq ft
- Median
- $71.50 / sq ft
- 45 Broadway, Partial 12th Floor 2,624 sq ft $60/sq ft about 15 people
- 32 Old Slip, Partial 32nd Floor 6,997 sq ft $64/sq ft about 40 people
- 17 State Street, Partial 26th Floor 6,606 sq ft $79/sq ft about 38 people
- 4 World Trade Center, Partial 44th Floor 5,023 sq ft $115/sq ft about 29 people
The full guide
This page is the short answer. The long one, with the numbers worked through, is here:
Related topics
- A Short-Term Office Lease for a High-Growth Startup: No Longer Than Your Forecast
- Short-Term Office Leasing for a Startup Team in NYC: What You Will Be Asked For
- Short-Term Commercial Leasing in NYC: What Short Means Here and What It Costs a Startup
- Flexible Commercial Lease Terms in NYC: The Flexibility You Write Into a Longer Lease
Are short-term leases on office property more expensive?
Per square foot, usually yes on a direct lease: the owner has fewer years to recover its costs, so it asks a higher rate and offers smaller concessions. A sublease is the exception, since it is typically priced below the direct rate. Either way, weigh the rent against what it would cost to be held in a longer lease you no longer need.
Can the building's owner refuse a sublease we have agreed with the tenant?
Yes. Nearly every New York office lease requires the owner's written consent before a sublease takes effect, and some let the owner take the space back in place of consenting. That is why the consent request should go in the day terms are agreed, and why the sublease should name a date after which, if consent has not come, you can walk away and get your deposit back. Your attorney should confirm the consent terms in the original lease.
Do you handle short-term leases for retail or warehouse property?
Not through these pages. What we publish and describe here is office space, all of it in Manhattan. A retail or industrial lease is a different search with different customs, so take it to a broker who works on that kind of property every day.
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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