Free tool
Office space calculator
How many square feet does your team need in New York? Tell us how you work. We build the room list, add circulation and the building's loss factor, and give you the rentable size to search for, the number every NYC listing quotes.
You need about
4,981 rentable SF
Look at spaces from 4,500 to 5,700 SF.
178 SF a person, sized for 28 people, 24 in on the busiest day.
- Desks and offices 1,680
- Meeting space 740
- Pantry, reception, support 532
- Circulation 1,033
- Building share (loss factor) 996
| Room | Count | SF |
|---|---|---|
| Workstations | 20 x 48 | 960 |
| Private offices | 6 x 120 | 720 |
| Meeting rooms, 4 to 6 seats | 2 x 150 | 300 |
| Conference rooms, 10 to 14 seats | 1 x 350 | 350 |
| Phone booths and focus rooms | 3 x 30 | 90 |
| Pantry and break area | 192 | |
| Reception | 1 x 200 | 200 |
| Storage, IT, printing, wellness room | 140 | |
| Rooms | 2,952 | |
| Circulation | 35% | 1,033 |
| Usable | 3,985 | |
| Loss factor | 20% | 996 |
| Rentable | 4,981 |
A planning estimate from typical room sizes, not a floor plan. An architect or broker will test it against real floors.
How the calculator works
- Headcount to seats. Today's team plus the growth you plan for over the lease. Private offices go to the share of people your layout gives them (5% for mostly open desks, 20% for desks and some offices, 60% for mostly private offices). Everyone else gets a desk, or with shared seating a desk for the busiest day plus a 10% buffer.
- Seats to rooms. One 4 to 6 seat meeting room for about every 12 people in on the busiest day, a 10 to 14 seat conference room from 15 people (one more for every 40), a phone booth for every 10, a pantry, storage and IT space sized by headcount, and reception if clients visit.
- Rooms to usable SF. The rooms add up to your net program. Aisles and corridors add 35% on top, which gives usable square feet.
- Usable to rentable SF. Divided by (1 minus the loss factor) for the building's common areas. That is the size a listing quotes, and we give you a band from 10% under to 15% over it to search, because floors rarely come in the exact size.
Room sizes are typical space-planning assumptions, not market data: a 48 SF desk, a 120 SF private office, 150 SF meeting rooms, 350 SF conference rooms and 30 SF phone booths. Change the desk, office and circulation numbers under "Change the room sizes". Building code, the floor plate and column spacing all move the real answer, so have an architect or broker test fit a floor before you sign.
Worked examples
Rentable SF from this calculator with 10% growth, "About 80% (hybrid)", reception and a 20% loss factor.
Where to look
The neighborhoods Leasemark covers with the most office floor area, per NYC PLUTO tax lot data (26v2).
- Office space for lease in Midtown137M SF office
- Office space for lease in the Financial District76.9M SF office
- Office space for lease in the Garment District33.2M SF office
- Office space for lease in Grand Central32.2M SF office
- Office space for lease in Midtown South28.3M SF office
- Office space for lease in Hudson Yards22.2M SF office
- Office space for lease in Downtown Brooklyn19.7M SF office
- Office space for lease in Flatiron14.6M SF office
Questions
How much office space do I need per person in NYC?
It depends on how you work more than on headcount. With this calculator's default room sizes, a hybrid team of 25 with a mix of desks and offices comes out near 178 rentable SF a person. Mostly open desks run lower and mostly private offices run higher: see the worked examples on this page, then change the inputs to match your team.
What is the difference between usable and rentable square feet?
Usable square feet is the space you actually lay out. Rentable square feet is what the lease charges for: your usable space plus a share of the building's common areas, such as the lobby and shared corridors. Listings in New York quote rentable square feet, so this calculator converts your usable need into rentable before it gives you a size to search for.
What is a loss factor?
The loss factor is the share of rentable square feet you pay for but cannot lay out, the building's common areas. Rentable SF is usable SF divided by (1 minus the loss factor). It varies building by building, so ask the landlord or listing broker for the number. The calculator starts at 20% and lets you change it.
How does hybrid work change the space I need?
With shared seating you plan desks for the busiest day, not for every person. The calculator plans desks for the share of desk-based people you expect in on that day plus a 10% buffer, while private offices stay assigned. At "About 80% (hybrid)", a team of 25 planning for 10% growth, with 6 private offices, needs 20 desks for 22 desk-based people.
What does office space cost a month?
New York asking rents are quoted in dollars per rentable square foot per year. Monthly base rent = rentable SF x the rent per SF / 12. Enter an asking rent in the calculator to see it for your size. Electricity, real estate tax increases over the base year and other charges are usually on top of base rent, and in Manhattan below 96th Street the Commercial Rent Tax can apply to larger leases.