The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf - the Los Angeles-based company which operates a large chain of coffee shops by the same name - is planning a new corporate headquarters campus near the Expo Line in Baldwin Hills.

The nearly 220,000-square-foot facility, slated for a vacant 3.6-acre lot at 6000 W. Jefferson Boulevard, would feature two buildings - a three-story structure fronting Jefferson and a larger six-story edifice at the back of the property.  The smaller building would contain nearly 54,000 square feet of light manufacturing space - to be used for coffee roasting - and nearly 51,000 square feet of warehouse space, with a 2,200-square-foot drive-thru Coffee Bean to be located toward the front of the property.  The proposed six-story building would contain just over 90,000 square feet of corporate office space, in addition to ancillary lobbies and outdoor balconies.  Plans call for 828 parking spaces to serve these uses, both in a surface lot and in a basement garage that would extend as far as five levels below ground.

Beverly Hills-based architecture firm Jack Hollander & Associates is designing the campus, which would incorporate a central plaza between the two buildings and an open seating area fronting Jefferson Boulevard.  Renderings show a pair of contemporary glass-and-concrete buildings.

Construction of the Coffee Bean campus is anticipated to occur of 35 months.  The project's initial study, which is being circulated by the Los Angeles Department of City Planning, sets January 19 as a start date for construction.  However, an official date has not been announced.

Coffee Bean has been headquartered at the Wilshire Courtyard complex near LACMA since 2015.

The development site was previously owned by the City of Los Angeles, which used it for vehicle and container storage from 1995 until 2017, when the land was sold to Coffee Bean for the headquarters project.  Though the surroundings were largely industrial when the city first acquired the property, Coffee Bean's future offices will find arrive into a much different landscape.  The property is located adjacent to Culver City and the Hayden Tract, which has been transformed into a hub for technology firms.  Apple has reportedly leased space in two nearby developments for its new content division.

Additionally, the arrival of Metro's Expo Line - which runs a half-mile north between Santa Monica and Downtown Los Angeles - has spurred private sector investment, most notably the 12-acre Cumulus development, which will bring more than 1,200 apartments to a site located across the street from La Cienega/Jefferson Station.  A high-rise office building is also in the works at the intersection of Jefferson and National Boulevards.