The Lego Group has tacked on another addition to its global real estate footprint in a deal far larger than its interlocking toy bricks.
The global toy maker signed on for about 40,000 square feet in the Beam on Farmer office development in Tempe, Arizona, where it plans to open a new consumer services hub sometime next year. The lease will kick off in February 2025, according to CoStar data, and extends Lego's corporate growth streak across the United States.
The Denmark-based company last year decided to relocate its Americas region headquarters to Boston from Enfield, Connecticut, an office it had occupied for nearly five decades. While the company has yet to finalize a lease, the search is underway, and Lego expects to officially move before the end of 2026.
The company already leases 160,800 square feet at 1001 Boylston St. in Boston's Back Bay area as part of a deal it signed in August 2023, according to CoStar. It is also in the process of developing a $1 billion manufacturing hub in Virginia that is scheduled to debut within the next few years.
Once it moves into its new Phoenix-area space, the toy maker will occupy a full floor of the more than 180,900-square-foot building at 433 S. Farmer Ave. It joins other tenants including OfferPad, a real estate tech company that signed a full-floor deal late last year, as well as M. A. Mortenson Co., which took over part of the first floor earlier this year.
Lego is just the latest firm prioritizing office investments in the newest, nicest and best-located areas across the country. Developed in 2022, the Beam on Farmer is one of the newest additions to the Tempe office market, responsible for the bulk of leasing activity across the greater Phoenix area.
While the construction boom in the fast-growing suburb has made it tough for landlords to fill space, Tempe's appeal as a national tech and financial hub has made it possible to command rents that average a 15% premium compared to the regional average, according to a CoStar analysis. The Beam on Farmer is aiming even higher with asking rents at the property nearing $48 per square foot compared to the Tempe average of about $40 per square foot.
And with an amenity roster that includes a fitness center, cafe, meeting and training rooms, and outdoor lounges, the building is aiming to be a spot worthy of employee commutes, something particularly notable for Lego.
Employees based in the future Tempe office will be required to live within a reasonable distance, according to recent job postings, and many roles are expected to start on a remote basis but eventually transition to a minimum of three in-office days per week.