Barbie Maker Mattel Inks Another Office Lease in L.A.’s El Segundo

The space adds to the toy maker’s notable footprint in the beachside enclave, which includes its headquarters and a creative office space it bought this summer.

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The company behind toys like Barbie and Hot Wheels is about to get a lot better at its job of “just beach” with its new 60,000-square-foot lease in the coastal enclave of El Segundo, Calif., with landlord Continental Development. 

Mattel, which is also headquartered in the small city adjacent to LAX, will use the space at 831 South Douglas Street as part of its studio operations, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal, which first reported the news. Mattel plans to move its operations there in 2025 from its current studio space, though that space’s location and square footage were not immediately clear. 

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The Douglas Street space is part of its Plaza at Continental Park office campus. Mattel’s headquarters is about two miles north, at 333 Continental Boulevard.

Cushman & Wakefield (CWK)’s Brett Racanelli and Michael Condon represented Mattel in the deal, per LABJ

Representatives for Mattel and Continental Development did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Mattel is doubling down on its operations at the beachside market. The company in August purchased a 168,000-square-foot creative office building at 2160 East Grand Avenue, about a block away from its headquarters, for about $59 million from New York Life Insurance. The property, dubbed Grand + Nash, will be used by the company as a design center. 

Despite the success of the 2023 “Barbie” film, which grossed over $1.4 billion at the box office and helped boost sales of Barbie dolls at the time, net sales for Mattel in the third quarter of this year were down 4 percent quarter-over-quarter, according to its latest earnings report. Yet the company’s overall profits still increased, beating expectations, due to cost-cutting measures and supply chain improvements. 

Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.