|
You are at the point where you need a larger office, or one that isn’t deemed the extra bedroom in your home, but you’re not ready to commit to a five- or 10-year lease. Or perhaps you simply don’t want to deal with the hassles of running an office yet. Sounds like a furnished office space may be a solution.
At dozens of business centers/office suites throughout the city, you can rent an office, or a suite of offices— or even just a desk or two—for as much or as little time as you need and get access to a receptionist, copy room and other amenities. While this is usually more expensive than renting under a traditional lease you often save on start-up costs — everything from desks to phone lines to fax machines that you’d otherwise need to buy.
The main advantage of such space is flexibility: You can get set up with an office space in less than 48 hours, and the lease can be as short as three months. Besides start-up operations, typical users are out-of-town companies looking for a beachhead in a new market and individuals who are between jobs and need a professional-looking setup. The ability to claim a “prestigious address” also draws many users, including Fortune 1000 companies. The Regus Group, which also operates under the HQ Global brand name, has 13 locations in Manhattan, including at the tony Chrysler Building and at Rockefeller Center. But furnished and/or short-term office space doesn’t always come cheap, especially with a prestigious address. Regus’s rates in Manhattan start at $975 a month per employee workstation.
At The Rockefeller Group’s business center in downtown Manhattan, a 100-square-foot interior office for one person with high-speed Internet, telephone, voicemail and access to a receptionist runs upwards of $1,000 a month. That amounts to $120 per square foot in rent for the year, compared to an average rent of around $30 a year for traditional space downtown. For larger operations, a 300-square foot office that is furnished for 10 people (a tight fit) at the downtown center would run just under $5,000 a month with all the bells and whistles. Other business centers may offer a mix (use of a phone system and copier, but no computer or fax) for around $500 — but you don’t get an enclosed office, you get a desk.
Finally, there is a discount alternative that lets you keep a presentable business address, even if you don’t get an actual office. For around $200 a month, The Rockefeller Group offers a “virtual office” at one of its locations (two in midtown and one on Wall Street), consisting of only voicemail and a physical mailbox.
Related Articles |
Stuart W. Elliot is the editor of The Real Deal, a monthly magazine covering the


Follow NY Report