Big plans have percolated for a new Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf headquarters in Baldwin Hills.
The Los Angeles-based coffee shop chain is planning to leave its offices in Miracle Mile and set up near the Expo Line, UrbanizeLA reported. At nearly 220,000 square feet, the new facility is slated for a vacant 3.6-acre lot at 6000 W. Jefferson Blvd.
While a new beginning for Coffee Bean, the move could be a blow to Tishman Speyer, the commercial developer. Coffee Bean has been headquartered at the Wilshire Courtyard complex since 2015. In September, Tishman Speyer put the 1-million square-foot campus up for sale, after E! Entertainment Television terminated its nearly 400,000-square-foot lease there, leaving the facility 60 percent occupied.
The coffee shop chain’s new headquarters will feature two buildings – a three-story structure fronting Jefferson and a six-story building at the rear.
The six-story building will contain 90,000 square feet of office space. The smaller building will have almost 54,000 square feet of manufacturing space for coffee roasting, and nearly 51,000 square feet of warehouse space.
The plan also calls for a 2,200-square-foot drive-thru Coffee Bean toward the front, with 828 parking spaces on a surface lot and a five-level, subterranean garage.
Construction is expected to begin Jan. 19 and take just under three years to complete.
Coffee Bean bought the land from the city, which used it for vehicle and container storage for about 12 years. It is near Metro’s Expo Line, Culver City and the Hayden Tract, which has been transformed into a hub for tech firms.
The Expo Line has spurred other investment, including the 12-acre Cumulus development, which will bring more than 1,200 apartments near the La Cienega/Jefferson station. [Urbanize] – Gregory Cornfield