The Croissant Comparison: A Private Office vs a Traditional Lease in New York (2026)
Twelve months of the median private office for ten people in Manhattan cost $90,960, about what a year’s rent alone costs on the smallest space a lease would give the same team. The lease then adds $397,104 of build-out and a ten-year commitment.
The short answer
Is a private office cheaper than a traditional lease in New York?
For a team of ten, yes, in the first year and on average over a lease. Twelve months of the median private office for ten people in Manhattan cost $90,960, the Croissant All-In Number. A traditional lease of 1,200 square feet, the smallest space a planner gives ten people, costs $89,244 a year in rent at Manhattan’s average asking rent, and $486,348 in its first year once the build-out is paid. Spread over the ten-year term most New York leases run, the lease still costs $128,954 a year.
- A private office for ten people in Manhattan costs a median of $7,580 a month, so twelve months come to $90,960, against $89,244 for a year’s rent on 1,200 square feet at Cushman & Wakefield’s average asking rent of $74.37 a square foot.
- Cushman & Wakefield prices the build-out of a New York office at $220.62 a square foot for construction and $330.92 with furniture, cabling, A/V and fees, or $397,104 for 1,200 square feet: more than four years of the median private office for ten people.
- The most common commercial lease in New York City runs ten years, according to the city’s Department of Small Business Services, so a lease of 1,200 square feet commits a team of ten to about $1,289,544, against twelve months for a private office.
Croissant Office Price Index. 10 private offices for ten people in Manhattan, prices read November 1, 2026, each the monthly price of the whole office on a 12-month term before taxes; lease figures from Cushman & Wakefield, TenantBase, the NYC Department of Small Business Services and CBRE, read November 1, 2026.
What a team of ten pays for a private office and for a lease in New York
| Cost for a team of ten | Private office (median) | Lease, 1,200 sq ft | Lease, 1,600 sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| A month’s price or rent | $7,580 | $7,437 | $9,916 |
| Twelve months of price or rent | $90,960 | $89,244 | $118,992 |
| Build-out: construction | None | $264,744 | $352,992 |
| Build-out: furniture, cabling, A/V and fees | None | $132,360 | $176,480 |
| The first twelve months | $90,960 | $486,348 | $648,464 |
| A year on average over ten years | $90,960 | $128,954 | $171,939 |
| The commitment | $90,960 for 12 months | $1,289,544 for ten years | $1,719,392 for ten years |
| Deposit, returned at the end | Asked for each office | $14,874 | $19,832 |
The Croissant All-In Number is what an office costs for twelve months with its deposit, setup fees and promotions. This page sets it against a traditional lease for the same team of ten. It is part of the Croissant Office Price Index.
Finding 1
Twelve months of a private office cost about what a year’s rent alone does
The median private office for ten people in Manhattan costs $7,580 a month on a 12-month term, across 10 offices in ten buildings; the median could plausibly fall anywhere from $5,150 to $11,430. Twelve months of it, the Croissant All-In Number, come to $90,960. None of the ten listings states a deposit or a setup fee, so the number is twelve months at the 12-month price. A lease of 1,200 square feet at Cushman & Wakefield’s average Manhattan asking rent of $74.37 a square foot costs $89,244 a year, within 2% of the office’s twelve months. On 1,600 square feet, the typical space for ten, the rent is $118,992, 31% more than the office.
Describe this graphic
Three bars. A private office for ten people in Manhattan: $90,960 for twelve months. A lease of 1,200 square feet: $486,348 in its first twelve months, of which $89,244 is rent and $397,104 build-out. The same lease on average over ten years: $128,954 a year.
Source: Croissant Office Price Index, 2026-11-01. Offices on Croissant, and offices listed on LiquidSpace and CoworkingCafe collected by Croissant on 2026-08-19; Cushman & Wakefield, Manhattan Office MarketBeat, Q3 2026; Cushman & Wakefield, Office Fit Out Cost Guide Americas 2026; TenantBase.
| Building | Area | Office a month | Twelve months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virgo Business Center Midtown | 34th to 59th Street | $4,200 | $50,400 |
| Jay Suites - Financial District | Below Canal Street | $4,300 | $51,600 |
| Jay Suites - Grand Central | 34th to 59th Street | $4,500 | $54,000 |
| Jay Suites - Madison Avenue | 34th to 59th Street | $6,000 | $72,000 |
| Emerge212 - 1185 6th Avenue | 34th to 59th Street | $6,000 | $72,000 |
| The Yard - Lower East Side | Canal to 14th Street | $9,160 | $109,920 |
| Corporate Suites - 641 Lexington Avenue | 34th to 59th Street | $9,600 | $115,200 |
| Le Parc Coworking Offices | 14th to 34th Street | $11,430 | $137,160 |
| 31 Perry | Canal to 14th Street | $15,000 | $180,000 |
| 52 Duane Street | Below Canal Street | $30,000 | $360,000 |
Finding 2
Before moving in, a lease’s build-out costs more than four years of a private office
Cushman & Wakefield’s Office Fit Out Cost Guide Americas 2026 puts the construction of a New York office at $220.62 a square foot, before cabling, A/V, security and furniture, and $330.92 a square foot once its own worked example adds them and the fees. For 1,200 square feet that is $264,744 of construction and $132,360 more for the rest: $397,104 before the team moves in, more than four years of the median private office. Reusing a previous tenant’s fit-out costs 10% to 15% less, the guide says. Spread over ten years, the lean lease costs $128,954 a year, 42% more than a year of the office.
What a lease commits a team to, and what it adds
New York City’s Department of Small Business Services says the most common commercial lease runs ten years, with an option to renew for five more, and that the security deposit is commonly two months’ rent: $14,874 on 1,200 square feet. Metro Manhattan Office Space (Bobby Samuels), a tenant broker, says most of its Manhattan deals run five to ten years. Over ten years the lean lease commits a team to about $1,289,544. A private office on the Croissant Term Ladder can be taken for 12, 9, 6 or 3 months; three months of the median office for ten cost $26,833. An office taken on Croissant’s own agreement is a service agreement, not a lease, and its rate is fixed for the term.
Large leases come with help a team of ten does not get. CBRE’s Figures, Midtown, Midtown South and Downtown Manhattan Office, Q3 2026 puts the landlord’s allowance toward the build-out at $142 to $160.17 a square foot and the free rent at seventeen months, but only on new leases of 25,000 square feet or more for ten years or longer. Electricity is usually billed on top of the rent; Metro Manhattan Office Space (Alan Rosinsky), a tenant broker, puts it at $3.00 to $3.50 a square foot a year in Class B and C buildings, or $3,600 to $4,200 on 1,200 square feet. New York City’s Commercial Rent Tax does not apply: it starts at $250,000 of rent a year, and a ten-person lease is well below that.
How we measured it
The private offices are every office for exactly ten people in Manhattan in the New York index: offices on Croissant at their 12-month price, read on 2026-11-01, and offices listed on LiquidSpace and CoworkingCafe at the monthly price they publish, collected on 2026-08-19. A median is stated only where offices in at least five buildings stand behind it. The rent is the Manhattan average asking rent, all classes, in Cushman & Wakefield’s Manhattan Office MarketBeat, Q3 2026, a full-service rent; the report does not say what full service includes. The space is the lean and typical space for ten people in TenantBase’s planning table, which is close to the 165 square feet a person in JLL’s Global Occupancy Planning Benchmark Report 2025. The build-out is the New York figure in Cushman & Wakefield’s Office Fit Out Cost Guide Americas 2026 and the worked all-in example on its guide page. The lease term and the deposit are from the NYC Department of Small Business Services’ commercial leasing guide, the concessions from CBRE’s Manhattan figures, the electricity range from Metro Manhattan Office Space (Alan Rosinsky) and the Commercial Rent Tax from the NYC Department of Finance. Every office is on private offices in New York City.
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