Union Square Office Space for Startups: How Small a Private Floor Gets
For a startup of about 12, Union Square commercial real estate comes down to one product: a small private office floor near the 14th Street station. Twelve people need roughly 2,100 rentable square feet, which is at the small end of what gets leased as a private floor, so the choices are partial floors, small lofts and furnished subleases. At that headcount shared desks often still cost less, and the decision turns on privacy and on how soon you expect to pass 15. Nomad lines the options up for you. In most transactions the landlord pays the broker fee.
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Find a floor for 12 peopleUpdated 2026-10-03 · Nomad Group
Space that suits a 12-person startup near the square
Union Square's office stock is boutique: prewar buildings on the park and lofts on the side streets. For a team this size, three things come up.
- A partial floor, where the landlord has divided a loft and you take one side of it.
- A furnished sublease, wired and ready, from a company that has moved on. The term is whatever remains on its lease.
- A small full floor in a narrow building, which is rare and worth seeing the day it appears.
Supply at the square is thin at every size, so we search the blocks north and west of it with the same brief.
How small a private floor gets, and when it beats coworking
Private space gets scarce as the requirement shrinks. The smallest private floors are partial floors and sublet suites, and the block further down shows how small the ones on our book go. Under that size, what is offered is mostly a room inside a coworking operator's space.
On cost, a dozen desks at Manhattan coworking prices of $800 to $1,400 apiece come to $9,600 to $16,800 a month. Up to about 15 people that is usually the cheaper route, and beyond roughly 20 a floor of your own usually is. A team of 12 moves early for reasons other than price: client work that needs a closed door, candidates who ask to see the office, or a hiring plan that passes 15 within the year. When to leave coworking covers the signals.
Furnished or bare: which first floor a small team should take
Furnished, in most cases. A floor with desks and wiring in place lets a small team move within two to four weeks of signing and spend nothing on construction. A bare floor means a buildout of $50 to $150 a square foot and 10 to 16 weeks of work, which makes sense only on a term long enough to earn it back. If a furnished floor is a sublease, check how many months the original lease has left.
What a startup should check before it signs
- The guarantee. A young company is usually asked for a personal one, most often a good guy guarantee.
- The security deposit: how many months, and whether it steps down as the company proves itself.
- The term. One year is possible on a private floor and two or three is more usual.
- The right to sublet or assign if the company is acquired or outgrows the space.
These are legal terms, and the lease wording decides them. Have your attorney confirm each one.
How Nomad compares the options, and the floors for about 12
We put every option on one basis: the all-in monthly cost, the length of the commitment and the date you could be working there. That makes a coworking renewal, a sublease and a direct lease comparable on a single page. On your search, we work for you.
The live block below lists floors that fit about 12 people. It is drawn from our whole book, not from Union Square alone, because the square's own supply at this size is thin.
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
- 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
- Union Square Office Space for Lease: How a Full-Floor Deal Gets Done
- Office Space for Rent in Union Square: Is It the Right Base for a Growing Company?
- Penn Plaza Office Space: What Is Available and Why Companies Choose It
- Meatpacking District Office Space for Rent: Who It Is Right For
Is 12 people too few to lease a private floor in Union Square?
No, but it is near the lower limit. Floors that small exist as partial floors and subleases more than as whole floors, and they are taken quickly. If the team will stay at 12, compare the floor honestly with the cost of staying in shared space.
How much extra room should a 12-person startup take for new hires?
A company that is hiring typically leases 15 to 25 percent above its current need. For 12 people heading to 15 that is about 2,600 square feet. Past that, an expansion right or a shorter term is a better tool than empty desks.
What does Nomad need from a founder to begin?
Headcount, the move-in date and a monthly budget. A broker reaches out within the hour during business hours, and a first shortlist can be ready within 24 hours.
Does Nomad also act for landlords near Union Square?
Yes. Nomad offers agency leasing and owner representation as well as tenant searches. On your search, we work for you, and should a building that we lease for its owner fit your brief, we say so before you tour it, since acting for both sides requires the informed consent of each.
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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