About the Manatee County CRA

The Manatee County Community Redevelopment Agency is a public entity created in 2002 for the purpose of revitalizing the County’s central neighborhoods and commercial corridor. The CRA staff functions within the Manatee County Neighborhood Services Department. CRA are under the auspices of the Manatee County Community Redevelopment Agency as governed by the Board of County Commissioners.

 

The Agency’s tools consist of the ability to acquire land for resale or lease, provide financial or other benefits and incentives for new construction and remodeling, develop comprehensive architectural and streetscape designs, prepare market studies, and contribute to the improvement of sidewalks, parks, and other public facilities.

 

The Agency administers projects in two Community Redevelopment Areas (CRA’s) — 14th Street West and South County - both of which have the overall goals of stimulating new investment and renewal to the County’s urban core. Both CRA’s include the US 41 corridor, a major thoroughfare that has been designated as a state scenic highway — Tamiami Trail – Windows to the Gulf Coast Waters. The two CRAs contain nearly 2,100 acres and extend from the Bradenton City limits southward to the Sarasota-Manatee gateway area.

 

In addition to these two CRA's in unincorporated Manatee County there are five municipal CRAs that operate independently of the county CRA.