East 11th Street · Austin, TexasComing Home to Sacred Ground
Block 16 & 18After nearly 30 years of planning, Austin's Black community is finally building a cultural home on the same ground where their ancestors were forced to settle and forced out.
$112M
Total development300K+
Square feet2028
Completion target150 yrs
Of history honoredWho We Are
Art, Culture & Community
Raasin in the Sun is an Austin-based nonprofit founded by former Olympic athlete Raasin McIntosh. Through mural art, environmental restoration, and deep community engagement, RITS has spent over a decade beautifying East Austin and amplifying its stories.
Raasin in the Sun was selected as part of the Pleasant Hill Collaborative to lead the legacy build of East 11th Street's Block 16 & 18 corridor uniting creatives, developers, architects, and community members around one mission: Legacy building through culture, equity, and place.
— Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison"The mission was to combat slum and blight — the east side, East 11th and 12th street — it's all gone now. Block 16 and 18 was the last of it."
The History
This ground has always meant Something
Pleasant Hill Is Born
1875
Newly emancipated African Americans formed Pleasant Hill just east of Waller Creek, one of Austin's earliest Black freedom communities. Families built wood-framed homes, dug their own wells, and created a self-sustaining world from nothing. This is the community this project honors.
A Dispersed, Thriving Black Austin
1870
–1920
By 1870, Black residents made up 36% of Austin's population and lived in 15+ freedom communities across the city — Clarksville, Wheatville, Pleasant Hill, and more. They built churches, schools, and businesses throughout the city.
The City Draws a Line
1928
Austin's city government adopted a master plan that created a designated "Negro District," forcing all Black residents east of what is now I-35. City utilities were deliberately cut to Black neighborhoods elsewhere, leaving families no choice but to relocate. One plan. Fifteen communities dismantled.
East 11th Becomes Black Main Street
1945
Despite forced segregation, East 11th Street became a thriving cultural hub. The Victory Grill opened on Victory over Japan Day and joined the Chitlin' Circuit — hosting B.B. King, James Brown, Billie Holiday, and Ike & Tina Turner. Block 18 sits directly adjacent to this now-landmark building.
"Urban Renewal" = Urban Removal
Mid–Late 1900s
Federal "urban renewal" programs targeted East Austin as "blighted," displacing Black families and erasing the businesses they had built. Gentrification followed, accelerating the erasure. Block 16 & 18 became some of the last undeveloped land on this corridor.
25 Years of Fighting for This Moment
1999–2024
Development of Blocks 16 and 18 has been discussed since 1999. In August 2023, Rally Austin launched a formal RFP. In June 2024, the Urban Renewal Board selected the Pleasant Hill Collaborative. In July 2024, Austin City Council approved the plan.
The Vision
A cultural corridor Built to last
Block 16900 Block · E. 11th St & Curve St
138 residences — studios to 3-bedrooms
100+ units affordable at ≤50% AMI
Street-level retail & restaurants
Parking garage with rooftop amenities
Adjacent to the African American Cultural & Heritage Facility
Block 181100 Block · Adjacent to Victory Grill
Live/work townhomes for artists & creatives
27,000 sq. ft. of cultural venue space
Music, performance & recording studios
Restaurants and cultural venues
Exterior community plazas & public amenities
Cultural Anchors
Institutions That Will Root the Story
Block 16 & 18 isn't just housing and venues, it's a living archive. These planned institutions will ensure this corridor remains a permanent home for Black history, music, and creative life in Austin.
Texas Music Museum
Kenny Dorham’s Mini-Museum
& Listening Room
East Austin Black
History Project Archive
Austin Black Music Archive
DiverseArts Fine Art Gallery
Women In Jazz
Association Offices
Co-working Spaces
for Creative Professionals
This project is the result of decades of advocacy and a coalition of organizations who believe Black cultural legacy deserves to be built into the physical fabric of Austin.
Built With a Coalition
The Pleasant Hill Collaborative
Raasin in the Sun (RITS)Creative placemaking lead
Forgecraft ArchitectureLocal architecture
Servitas LLCNational mixed-use developer
TOPOAustin-based commercial developer
Creative CultureWorksCultural strategy
Carter Design Associates & Moody-NolanBlack-owned architecture firms
Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corp.Nonprofit housing leader
This Is History Being Made
Block 16 & 18 is more than a development. It's a reclamation. Join us in honoring the past and building what comes next.