Mobile lender Tala trades up for larger Santa Monica office; Knotel takes old digs

Tala will take 30K sf in its new office; Knotel's location will be first in LA area

Tala founder and CEO Shivani Siroya is moving the company from 429 Santa Monica Boulevard to 1633 26th Street in Santa Monica
Tala founder and CEO Shivani Siroya is moving the company from 429 Santa Monica Boulevard to 1633 26th Street in Santa Monica

The mobile financial technology company Tala is trading up for a larger office in Santa Monica.

Tala inked a lease with for 30,600 square feet at Kilroy Realty Group’s 1633 26th Street. It will take the top two floors of the three-story building, a space formerly home to media company MTV.

Tala is also subleasing its existing 12,400-square-foot office at 429 Santa Monica Boulevard to flexible office provider Knotel. The company announced the new office, its first in the Los Angeles area, last month. That office sold in 2017 when Blackstone unloaded it to Douglass Emmet Inc. and the Qatar Investment Authority as part of a larger deal.

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Savills Studley’s Robert Cavaiola and Shay Bolton represented Tala on both of the recent transactions. Hunt Barnett and Chris Houge of L.A. Realty Partners advised Kilroy.

Tala’s new digs is just across the street from Water Garden, where Oracle and Amazon Studios rent space.

Founded in 2011, Tala runs a smartphone-enabled lending platform that evaluates customers’ credit and can deliver loans “in minutes,” according to its website. It is targeted for borrowers in developing countries who don’t have access to traditional lenders.