ALDI supermarket, Starbucks, Panda Express may be coming to Coachella

An ALDI supermarket, a Starbucks and a Panda Express may soon arrive in Coachella.

Plans for three new businesses at the northeast corner of Cesar Chavez Street and First Street include the grocery store and two drive-thrus, with Panda Express also making space for outdoor seating. Development plans show an additional 196 parking spaces set for the site.

Coachella’s Planning Commission discussed the project in December and, according to City Manager Gabriel Martin, the three businesses were approved, but commissioners must still discuss the development in terms of architectural design and landscaping on Jan. 5.

The proposed site for the new businesses is a vacant portion of the existing Fountainhead Plaza, first approved by the commission on May 7, 2008, to include the Walgreens drug store and Taco Bell and McDonalds drive-thru restaurants that are there today. These would not be changed.

“The owner originally had a master plan for the commercial center that included plans for retail spaces, drive-thrus and a gas station,” Martin told The Desert Sun, adding that the city does not select the businesses; rather, the plaza’s owner does. 

Some of the new businesses have already projected how many new jobs they would bring to the city, with approximately 25 employees needed at ALDI and approximately 30 at Panda Express.