Furnished, Prebuilt and Move-In-Ready Office Space in NYC

Where the furnished floors are

SoHo holds the most, 8 of its 9 floors. The table sets each submarket's finished floors against the rest of its own book, which is the fair comparison: a SoHo loft and a Chelsea loft are priced by their streets before their furniture.

Furnished, prebuilt, fully fitted, plug and play: what the labels mean

• Prebuilt. Built out by the landlord before a tenant signs, with the cost recovered through the rent rather than an improvement allowance. The prebuilt glossary entry covers how the lease treats it.
• Furnished. Desks, chairs and meeting-room furniture come with the space. Who owns them at the end of the term, and who removes them, belongs in the lease.
• Fully fitted, move-in ready or turnkey. Built out and ready to occupy, with or without furniture. Read the listing for which; on this page each floor says what its own listing says.
• Plug and play. Furnished and wired, so a team brings laptops and starts. Many of these are subleases from a company that outgrew or left the space.

When a furnished floor suits, and when it does not

It suits a team with a date it cannot move: a lease expiring, a round closing, a hiring plan that outruns the current office. It suits a company whose two-year headcount is uncertain, because the shorter terms these floors often carry keep the commitment small, and one that would rather keep its capital than spend it on construction. On our book today the floors fit teams of about 14 to 109 people.

It suits less well when the team will stay long enough for a custom buildout to pay for itself, when the layout has to change substantially, or when the office itself is part of the brand. For those, a raw floor with a negotiated allowance usually wins on cost over the term.

Coworking, sublease or a private HQ compares every option, coworking and subleases included. Flex by Nomad has the details on the serviced option.

What to check before you sign a furnished floor

• The furniture inventory. A list attached to the lease, who owns each item, and whether you must remove or store it at expiry.
• Condition, as delivered. Walk the space with a punch list before signing; an as-is clause covers whatever the last tenant left.
• Restoration. Whether you must return the space to its delivered layout, which turns any wall you move into a cost at the end.
• Systems. Cabling and internet ready on day one, and air conditioning during the hours your team actually works.
• For a sublease. When the master lease ends, how long the landlord's consent will take, and whether the landlord will recognize your tenancy if the sublandlord defaults. The sublease playbook has the full list.
• For a prebuilt still under construction. The delivery date in writing and what happens if it slips.
• What sits on top of rent. Electricity, escalations and cleaning, the same as on any lease.

Looking at price first? Office space under $50 a foot and over $100 a foot cover the two ends of the book.