El Segundo-based toymaker Mattel Inc. purchased a creative office campus next to its headquarters for $59.2 million.
The property, known as Grand + Nash, is located at 2160 E. Grand Ave.
Newmark Group Inc.’s U.S. Capital Markets Kevin Shannon, Vice Chairmen Ken White and Michael Moll, Executive Managing Director and Agency Market Leader Bill Bloodgood, Executive Managing Directors Geoff Ludwig and Eric Lastition, Senior Managing Director Eric Adams, Managing Director Alex Bergeson and Associate Aly Polo represented the seller, New York Life Real Estate Investors, in the sale.
“New York Life Real Estate Investors took control of Grand + Nash, one of El Segundo’s top office properties, with a clear vision to enhance its value through strategic leasing,” Bloodgood said in a statement. “Throughout the marketing process, we attracted multiple interested buyers. After an extended negotiation, we were able to achieve a fantastic result for New York Life to exit the project well in advance of expectations.”
In 2019, SteelWave and Barings purchased the asset from Peakstone Realty Trust for $63.5 million. After defaulting on a $69.6 million loan from New York Life Real Estate Investors, the lender foreclosed on the property.
Grand + Nash has a 6,500-square-foot tenant amenity and experience center, a café, outdoor space and rooftop decks.
Mattel plans to use the building as a design center.
“This owner-user sale is yet another example of corporate tenants fixing their long-term office occupancy costs by taking advantage of attractive sector pricing at massive discounts to replacement cost,” Shannon said in a statement.
El Segundo, like other office markets, has faced some difficulties. During the second quarter, the submarket had a vacancy rate of 31.9%, above the county average of 27.7%, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. data. The vacancy rate was up significantly from 19.4% during the same time period in 2019.
The asking rent in the South Bay city during the second quarter of this year was $4.22 a square foot, down 3 cents year over year.
Still, the area is seeing some construction with 324,000 square feet in the works during the second quarter.
New verticals for Mattel
It’s been a busy few years for Mattel. Last year the movie “Barbie,” starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, brought in a global box office take of $1.4 billion; it is currently the 15th highest growing movie of all time. Mattel Films co-produced the movie.
It is working on other films based on Mattel intellectual property, including a “Hot Wheels” movie to be produced by J.J. Abrams, a “Masters of the Universe” film and a “Monsters High” film.
“Very few companies, if any, have the quality and strength of the brand portfolio that Mattel can play with, and we have a lot to play with and a lot to play for,” Ynon Kreiz, the chief executive of Mattel, said in an interview earlier this year with Yahoo Finance.
The company has also announced a number of theme parks based on its IP. The first, Mattel Adventure Park in Glendale, Arizona, is expected to open this year. Meanwhile its Mattel Adventure Park in Bonner Springs, Kansas, is scheduled to open in 2026.
Both will offer rides such as Hot Wheels roller coasters. The Kansas park is expected to cost roughly $487 million to build while the Arizona park will cost around $260 million.
