Whether patrolling the beach as a lifeguard or training on it to become an ironman, Mr Crowe was never far from the sand.

But, after travelling and working internationally, when Mr Crowe returned to the suburb he had grown up in he found the commercial strip lacked the energy to match the beautiful natural assets of the area.

"It's a shame that we've got this beautiful beach and lovely seaside town, but we don't have much to service everyone in this area."

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Operating a number of fast food franchises in Wollongong and the broader Illawarra, Mr Crowe built up the financial capital to give back to Port Kembla and do something different in the area he had always called home.

At the same time, the Kembla Court shopping arcade on Wentworth Street came up for sale.

The U-shaped building with roughly a dozen shop fronts is one of the last surviving shopping centres of its kind, compact and open-air and nothing like the large shopping malls built in the past decades.

Mr Crowe and wife Nathalie Brown-Crowe, who have together operated real estate businesses in addition to their fastfood business, saw the potential in Kembla Court to reinvigorate the commercial strip along Wentworth Street and renamed the plaza The Wentworth.

"We've been so lucky to be able to travel around the world and we've seen some great concepts, outlets and services and we wanted to try and bring some of that into Port Kembla," said Mr Crowe.

At the same time, the pair are attuned to the heritage of the precinct. Long standing tenants including the Red Point Artists Association and barber shop The Golden Comb have been welcomed to remain in their premises even as new businesses open their doors.

The first of the new crop of tenants includes All Occasion Flowers and soon to open restaurant Little Thai at Port. These will be joined by The Iron Yampi, a family burger bar from the Good Times Only group, operators of Howlin' Wolf and Dagwood in Wollongong, and a cafe whose operator is yet to be confirmed. Mr Crowe expects these to be up and running in March.

In the meantime, the precinct hosts a market of local artisans and producers on the last Saturday of every month, with the next market on January 29. Most stallholders are from within five kilometres of The Wentworth and Mrs Brown-Crowe said the aim was both to lift foot traffic in the area and to change people's minds about the suburb.

"It has opened people's eyes who knew there was an awesome beach but didn't know there are phenomenal shops on the street."

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