Mattel, the toymaker behind major brands such as Barbie and Hot Wheels, is upgrading its real estate holdings, moving its studios and design center to new homes.
The company, headquartered in El Segundo, plans to move its studios to a newly renovated 60,000-square-foot building by 2025. Mattel signed a multi-year deal to lease the office space at 831 S. Douglas St.
The building, located near Mattel’s current headquarters on Continental Boulevard, includes studios that the company will use to take photos and videos to promote its products, as well as a patio with fire pits, a barbecue grill and a kitchen area. The building is close to other amenities including restaurants, a high-end sports club, hotels and shops. For the past 30 years, Mattel has housed its studios on its campus, which includes several buildings.
The real estate transaction is part of Mattel’s efforts to revamp its offices, as the company aims to boost productivity and creativity in the workplace while attracting new employees. As workers begin to return to the office following the COVID-19 pandemic, companies are trying to make the office more attractive to employees accustomed to remote work.
The industrial building, part of Continental Development Corp.’s Continental Park campus, was recently transformed to include a studio production area to meet Mattel’s creative needs.
“Employers have been working to give their employees reasons to want to come back to the office and interact with their peers,” said Bob Tarnofsky, executive vice president of real estate at Continental Development. “The amenities they offer are far superior to what we typically saw pre-COVID.” »
As employers rethink the future of work, it’s not uncommon for companies to sign shorter-term leases, Tarnofsky said. Mattel, however, signed a long-term lease. He declined to say how much Mattel paid for the lease and how long it lasts.
This year, Mattel also announced that it would move its design center, located on Mariposa Avenue for more than three decades, to a newly renovated building in 2026. The center, where employees design hair, clothing and d Other Toy Parts, will be housed in a 167,767 square foot office space known as Grand + Nash at 2160 E. Grand Ave. Mattel purchased the space for $59 million from New York Life Insurance.
“We are embarking on a significant interior modernization of our headquarters at 333 Continental Boulevard, infused with the same design principles and inspired by Mattel’s office modernization efforts around the world,” David Traughber, senior vice president of finance and head of Mattel. global real estate, said in a statement.
The buildings that currently house Mattel’s studio operations and design center are leased facilities that the company will vacate.
As of December 2023, Mattel had approximately 33,000 employees in more than 35 countries around the world, according to the company’s annual report. The company has approximately 2,000 employees in El Segundo and offers its employees a hybrid work environment.