Cost per desk is the fully loaded annual cost of providing one workstation: rent, rates, utilities, cleaning, security, furniture, IT and support services, divided by desk count. In major business districts it commonly runs into five figures per desk per year.
Its sharper sibling is cost per used desk: divide the same costs by desks actually occupied. A desk costing a five-figure sum that sits empty three days a week costs more per use than most executives assume, which is why utilisation data changes property conversations.