Finding Office Space as a Startup: Renting and Office Sharing in NYC

New York City’s pricey real estate makes finding office space as an entrepreneur tricky. You’ll need to consider not just pricing, but also which neighborhood makes the most sense for your type of business—where is your customer base? Where will you be able to network with similar companies? Where will be the best spot for client meetings? Currently, the most popular New York City neighborhoods for startups include Union Square, NoHo, Silicon Alley (Flatiron, Chelsea, and SoHo), as well as Brooklyn’s tech triangle of DUMBO, Brooklyn Navy Yard, and Downtown Brooklyn. The most expensive office space rentals are in Midtown and the Financial District.

RENTING YOUR OWN SPACE

Before you begin your search you should determine what type of office you need. How big do you want the space to be? What are your top three neighborhoods? Neighborhood selection is becoming extremely important as it lends to your business’ image and potentially to synergies with related businesses. The fashion industry still likes to be close to the Garment District whereas the area around Union Square has seen a large increase in technology startups. What is your budget? Do you want a traditional space or a creative loft? Try to create a survey for yourself (if you have a broker he/she will create one for you) and check off what different aspects you want your office to have. From the survey, you can then begin your tour of different office spaces.After you have toured the many different office spaces that each neighborhood has to offer, the selection process begins. You should offer terms to the landlord/broker of the building in which you would like to rent space. If possible, submit offers for multiple spaces at the same time—just like negotiating a job offer, you have more leverage if you have others vying for your attention. Some of the terms of the deal you should pay close attention to include:

• Rental rate
• Length of lease
• Heating/air-conditioning/electricity
• Taxes
• Sublease and assignment rights
• Renewal/termination options
• Security deposit/guarantee

When negotiating your lease, we recommend having a broker and lawyer on hand to ensure the lease you are signing is the most beneficial to you. The New York City real estate market is a lucrative business and landlords know this. Be sure to hire someone you trust to help make that transition.

SHARING = SAVINGS!

If you aren’t yet at the stage of your small business where you can rent an entire office space then sharing an office space is a great alternative. Sharing an already established office space works well for startups with small teams in place because you get a good bargain. As you can imagine, there are countless ways to find someone who is willing to share their office space in New York City.A couple sites that can help you find or list offices include:PivotDesk: Pivot Desk’s easy to use website lets you search for space by number of employees and what area you want to be located in. Then you can see your options plotted on a map, photos of the spaces, amenities, and who your potential officemates would be. The website also includes some co-working spaces.Shared Business Space: While the website looks a bit clunky, there are some good deals to be had here. You can browse for office space for free, and listings show the basics including: price, square footage, address, and photos.OfficeSublets.com: The photos are high quality and most posts include a floor plan, so you can see exactly how the spaces are set up. One significant downside is that you must email for prices.Another option for sharing office space is companies that specialize in shared space. Rather than subletting an office from another individual company or startup, you can rent space from a company that specializes in office sharing. Many co-working spaces offer the option to have your own private office within the space, while other companies specialize just in shared office space with no co-working option. Similar to co-working spaces, these offices usually offer amenities such as a reception desk, mail, WiFi, and kitchen facilities. Some popular choices include OfficeLinks, Emerge212, Regus, and SunshineNY.We do think that a personal referral can be the best, though. So, if you are looking for office space (or are offering space) send it to your email list and your social network. The city is big and chances are a friend of a friend might just be offering a nice corner of his or her space. Article updated February 2, 2015