In 1973, the Virginia Beach City Council recognized the Pembroke area's potential as a commercial center and re-zoned a portion of the area as the Central Business District. This zoning classification earmarked the Central Business District for development as a metropolitan center for financial, commercial, professional and cultural activities.

The City of Virginia Beach has experienced unprecedented growth in the past three decades. Recognized as the population center of the city, nearly 78% of the city's residents live within a five mile radius of the CBD. The Central Business District, which is located at the crossroads of one of the busiest intersections in Southeastern Virginia, is exactly halfway between downtown Norfolk and the Virginia Beach oceanfront.

In 1986, a small group of prominent Virginia Beach businessmen recognized the need for an entity which would bring cohesion and direction to the emerging CBD, and the Central Business District Association of Virginia Beach was formed. Three years later, in November 1989, the Virginia Beach City Council endorsed the Association's concept plan and allocated funds for the creation of a CBD Commission to prepare a Master Plan. The Commission presented its findings to the City Council in March 1991. Following its review in July 1991, the City Council accepted the Master Plan by an unanimous vote and referred it to the Planning Commission to consider its implementation and any recommended changes to the City's Comprehensive Plan.

In November 1995, the Virginia Beach City Council voted unanimously in favor of establishing a new zoning category to be known as B-3CBD-Pembroke Central Business Core Zoning District. This new district provides for pedestrian sidewalks and off-site parking, as well as several traditional urban features such as tree plantings, sidewalk cafes, pedestrian walkways and landscaping. Members of the CBDA Planning Committee and City staff worked together to develop the new zoning district. Its adoption by the City Council made possible the development of Virginia Beach's new City Center.

In November 1999, the Virginia Beach City Council approved the establishment of a Tax Increment Financing District to support the construction of public amenities in the CBD, to include structured parking, roads, landscaping and utilities. On February 8, 2000, the Virginia Beach City Council approved the Town Center project, which will create twin 22-story office towers, including two 7-story parking garages, 93,000 square feet of self-contained office/retail buildings, a two-story cinema complex, a 150-key all-suites hotel, an up-scale department store, a multi-story parking garage and various complementary upscale retail shops and restaurants.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Town Center on June 7, 2000, officially brought to reality the CBDA's vision of a "city center" for Virginia Beach.