The City of Port St. Lucie's Community Redevelopment Agency was created in 2001 by the City of Port St. Lucie City Council. A Community Redevelopment Agency refers to a public entity created by a city or a county to implement the community redevelopment activities outlined under Chapter 163, Part III, Florida Statutes. Also in 2001, the City designated a Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) along U.S. 1 in eastern Port St. Lucie and formally adopted a community redevelopment plan on June 11, 2001, following an extensive community-driven planning process which included design charrettes and workshops.
The redevelopment strategy is to create a central business district or commercial town center along U.S. 1 and a series of mixed-use pedestrian and transit-friendly districts. Since that time, three additional areas have been formally designated as part of the CRA: East Lake Village (formerly known as "Lentz Grove") in 2003; Port St. Lucie Blvd. /The Port (formerly known as Riverwalk) District in 2006; and the Southern Grove District in 2012.