LEGO officially opened its new U.S headquarters in Boston’s Back Bay, Wednesday The toy company offices span six floors in one of Boston’s new office towers at the intersection of Boylston Street and Mass Ave.
“This is gonna bring a lot of jobs to Massachusetts,” Gov. Maura Healey told GBH News following a ribbon cutting event. “It’s also an affirmation of who we are and why we attract global companies because we are number one for education, for innovation, and I think LEGO’s putting their mark right here, in Massachusetts, and in Boston is a sign of that.”
LEGO had been based in Connecticut since 1975 but the company said it decided to move to Boston in 2023 to tap the area’s global talent pool and form relationships with institutions like MIT, the Boston Public Library, the Museum of Science and the Children’s Museum.
LEGO’s leadership held the grand opening ribbon cutting and speaking program that included Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.
The new headquarters is projected to grow to more than 800 employees in the next decade. “This hub will embody the LEGO values, which are creativity, imagination, play, quality, caring, and fun,” said Skip Kodak, Senior President of LEGO Group’s Global Commercial Operations.
President and CEO Niels Christiansen said Lego’s mission has always been to bring joy, creativity and inspiration to children through quality play. “That is what we have encapsulated in our vision of becoming a global force for learning,” he said. “It’s a very deliberate choice that we can now count Boston as our home.”
Christiansen also called Boston his favorite city. “Boston is a key city of play and creativity, be it in sports, in literature, or in the arts. And it’s also an incredible center for learning with some of the world’s finest universities here,” he added.
Robert Goulston
GBH News
Brooke Thomson, with the business advocacy group Associated Industries of Massachusetts, said Lego’s decision to call Boston home is a win. “It’s a significant event for Massachusetts because it comes with hundreds of jobs at a time when that’s critically important,” Thomson said.
Thomson added that attracting more companies like LEGO to move here will require a range of quality-of-life components. “We have to get these new housing projects built. We have to figure out what is causing the delays. We have to consider how we keep making progress in transportation,” she said.
Thomson said the MBTA is a good example. “We have to make really smart and intentional investments in the T,” she said, “so that employers like LEGO see happy employees who say, ‘I love living in Massachusetts. I want to stay here.’”
