V.W.H. Campbell Jr., Post-Gazette The former East Hills Shopping Center, which once was the home of discarded tires and trash, could soon be the site of a Wal-Mart Supercenter. Click photo for larger image.

Petra Ministries' eight-year struggle to move beyond the planning stage in redeveloping the former East Hills Shopping Center may finally come to a close Monday afternoon, when Wal-Mart is expected to unveil plans to build a Supercenter store at the site.

The new store will anchor what Wal-Mart calls a "Jobs and Opportunity Zone," in which the retailer will work with business groups and nonprofits to attract grant money "to generate economic opportunity in the community."

The announcement caps years of controversy, rumor and failed efforts to redo the 44-acre site, now called the East Gate Commerce Center.

The controversy began even before Petra's 1999 purchase of the property, which opened in the early 1960s as one of the region's early mall developments but quickly fell on hard times as newer malls opened elsewhere, including the Monroeville Mall in 1969.

In 1998, the planning commissions for the three municipalities that the land straddles, Pittsburgh, Wilkinsburg, and Penn Hills, conducted a series of meetings to learn what residents wanted to see in the shopping center, which was largely vacant. Opinion was divided over whether to bring in light industrial development, or retail anchored by a "super store" such as Kmart or Wal-mart.

At the time, Allegheny County had agreed to buy the site from New York-based Eastgate Partners. In early 1999, the county's Department of Economic Development received separate proposals for its redevelopment from local developer J.J. Gumberg and from Petra, working in partnership with Detroit developer Graimark/Walker.

County Director of Economic Development Mulugetta Birru favored the Gumberg plan, but after more than 100 Petra supporters showed their opposition at a county commissioners' meeting, they removed the development contract from their agenda, asking Petra and Gumberg to settle their differences.

While the matter was still under deliberation, the county's contract to buy the land expired, and Petra bought the property in June 1999 for $1.65 million. Mr. Birru initially responded with a "declaration of taking" that signaled the county's intent to seize the property by eminent domain. But that threat was never carried out.

Since then, a succession of changes in the plans for the site have fueled a string of rumors. Gumberg's proposal had featured a Wal-Mart as its anchor, and Petra's original plan centered on a Kmart. But less than a month after Petra's purchase, the Troy, Mich.-based discount retailer rejected the location. In September 2001, when Petra began demolishing the buildings on the site that had been vacant for decades, it also unveiled a new plan, anchored by a 220,000-square-foot "national discount chain."

That chain turned out to be Wal-Mart. But the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer had not yet made a commitment, and it took its time in doing so.

A decision was expected in the spring of 2003. When it still had not come by the following October, the real estate broker representing Petra, expressed impatience. "We are just getting impatient and don't feel we can wait,'' said Sandy Gold, then vice president with CBRE Richard Ellis. "We are moving forward and trying to interest some other folks."

One other retailer that briefly appeared to be a candidate for the site was Lowe's. Two years ago, the home improvement chain was in discussion with the Penn Hills Planning Commission about opening a store in East Gate. But a presentation that Lowe's was to make before the commission in April 2005, never happened. "We never saw them," said principal planner Chris Blackwell.