Starbucks, Harbor Freight proposed for New Kensington's Riverview Plaza

New Kensington won’t be getting another car wash, but it is in line to get a Starbucks cafe and Harbor Freight store instead.

The discount tools store, nearly 16,000 square foot, and 2,500-square-foot coffee shop are proposed for Riverview Plaza off Tarentum Bridge Road.

Harbor Freight would be built beside the new Aldi in the plaza, in a corner where a ModWash car wash previously had been reviewed and approved.

That area is within the footprint of the former Kmart, which closed in 2019 and was torn down in 2021. Aldi opened in March after closing its nearby store in Lower Burrell two days earlier.

Starbucks will be in a free-standing building at the top of the parking lot, between Donut Connection and First National Bank. It will include a drive-thru.

Harbor Freight and Starbucks are contained in one proposal from Pittsburgh-based 100 Riverview LP. A representative could not be reached for comment Thursday.

New Kensington’s planning commission approved a site plan and subdivision for the development. Chairman Richard Bruni said it will be an improvement to the property and fits the area.

“The Starbucks is going to be large,” he said. “It’s not just a drive up to the window and get coffee. You can go in.

“The Harbor Freight — it would be nice to have something like that locally. We’re looking forward to them being successful.”

City council is expected to vote on approving the subdivision and compliance with the city’s design guidelines when it meets Feb. 5, said Tony Males, New Kensington’s engineer and zoning officer.

Parking and traffic are not expected to be an issue with the new retail stores, as they would generate less traffic than the much larger Kmart did, Males said.

Craig Hoffman, a spokesman for Harbor Freight Tools in Calabasas, Calif., on Thursday confirmed the company is “actively looking to open a location in New Kensington,” but would not comment further.

Starbucks plans to open its restaurant in the spring, a spokesperson confirmed.

Family-owned Harbor Freight Tools was founded in 1977. The tools retailer has 1,400 stores across the nation and touts itself as selling tools for up to 80% less than competing brands.

Harbor Freight has 10 locations in the Greater Pittsburgh area. The nearest locations to the Alle-Kiski Valley are in Monroeville and Ross Township. Others are in Pleasant Hills, Greensburg, Robinson and Latrobe.

The first Starbucks opened in 1971 in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, and there are now more than 16,000 Starbucks stores in the U.S.

While Starbucks has numerous locations in the Pittsburgh area, there are only a few in the Alle-Kiski Valley — including inside the nearby New Kensington Giant Eagle; at the Pittsburgh Mills in Frazer; two off Freeport Road in Harmar, including one inside Target; and a location that opened in Buffalo Township in December.

There are no plans to change the operations of the Starbucks inside the New Kensington Giant Eagle because of the nearby new Starbucks, Giant Eagle spokesman Dan Donovan said.

Giant Eagle is a licensee and operates its own in-store Starbucks locations with its own team members, Donovan said.

A representative of Tennessee-based ModWash did not respond to a request for comment about the apparent cancellation of plans for one of their car washes to be built in Riverview Plaza.

However, drivers in the area are not without ways to get their vehicles clean, as three car washes are in the immediate area.

They include a GetGo car wash outside Giant Eagle on Tarentum Bridge Road, and a Clean Express Auto Wash that opened just off the opposite side of Tarentum Bridge Road in January 2022.

Another car wash is between Ash Taphouse and the Fraternal Order of Eagles on Freeport Road.