In 1980, the City Council designated 344 acres in downtown as a community redevelopment area under the Florida Statutes. As a result of this legislation, the Boca Raton Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) was also established. The purpose of this action was to stop the deterioration of the downtown area and give people a reason to come to downtown Boca Raton.
The mission of the CRA is to advocate, administer the policies, and assist the public, downtown property owners and businesses in order to achieve the CRA Vision of the Downtown.
In a series of actions that began in 1982, the City Council adopted guidelines for land use control and for transportation and parking concept and design to be implemented in redeveloping the area. The area continued to languish. In 1986, the Agency undertook a public initiative to stimulate redevelopment by developing a master plan, which included numerous infrastructure improvements (Visions 90), and provided a detailed framework within which redevelopment could occur.