Construction on the Kelsey Creek Shopping Center will be completed in the next couple weeks, representing the culmination of more than a decade of effort to make the property a functioning retail center.

Brian Franklin, executive vice president of PMF Investments, the company that owns the site, said all construction, paving and landscaping will be complete this month. Franklin said all stores will be open, and new storefronts have been built, but the new grocery store, and the L.A. Fitness slated to go in the abandoned Kmart building are not likely to open until after the start of the year.

Developers are contractually obligated to open the new buildings by June 30, 2012, or risk losing out on a $454,000 discount on impact fees on the project, a concession given by the city this summer to make sure the project gets done.

For Franklin, who grew up in the area and went to Sammamish High School, the project has become very personal. He said he gets questions from friends and family every day about when it will be complete.

“It’s been a black hole in the commercial side of things in the Lake Hills neighborhood,” he said. “I think it will be a huge asset to the neighborhood and community here.”

The new center will feature a trailhead at Larsen Lake, pedestrian plazas and gathering areas, along with more landscaping near the parking lot and sidewalks.

Steve Kasner, chair of the East Bellevue Community Council, can’t wait for the new area to be complete. He hoped to see the health club and grocery store opened for the holiday season. He said the process never goes exactly according to plan, especially as the city is dealing with cuts in its permitting departments that lead to more unpredictable conditions.

“This project has been a long time coming, and there’s been so many delays on it, but I will be excited when the first person goes inside to shop,” Kasner said.

Another nearby property, the Shell station, is being developed by Key Bank, but it is separate from the property.

Changes in zoning last year gave the area a better chance to be developed for the first time since 2001, when Kmart left the site.

Previous guidelines required any builder that adds new commercial space to the site to open, or “daylight,” a covered stream that now flows through a concrete culvert below the property.

The rule made re-development of the 16-acre site nearly impossible. The property owner plans to make improvements to the adjacent Larsen Lake property to offset any potential harm to the creek.

Nat Levy can be reached at 425-453-4290.