Following layoffs, Bay Area animation giant to rent out office space

In the wake of its first round of layoffs in a decade, Bay Area animation giant Pixar has listed 16,800 feet of newly renovated office space on the sublease market.

Famous for enduring classics like “Monsters Inc.,” “Wall-E” and “Finding Nemo,” the company began renting an additional office building across the street from its 20-acre headquarters in May of 2022. In 2023, the company spent $3.6 renovating 1201 Park Ave. in Emeryville, only to make it available for subleasing in July, as first reported in the San Francisco Business Times.

The office space was listed amid a push by Disney, Pixar’s parent company, to cut $5.5 billion in costs. Reuters reported that the studio eliminated 75 jobs, just weeks before “Elemental,” the studio’s most recent feature-length effort, began screening in theaters in June. 

The laid-off employees included a producer and a director who worked on 2022’s “Lightyear,” which cost Pixar an estimated $106 million – a rare commercial flop from one of the film industry’s most consistently profitable studios.

A Pixar spokesperson told SFGATE that the studio first rented the building anticipating a need for more space. “No one ever worked in that space,” the spokesperson said.

Despite its dazzling, technically complex animation, “Elemental” initially appeared to be a box office disappointment, but as Vulture reported, the film later became a sleeper hit. 

The office for lease isn’t attached to Pixar’s main campus, whose grounds boast a swimming pool, soccer field and a massive statue of Luxo Jr.