Block 16 & 18

Coming Home to Sacred Ground

East 11th Street · Austin, Texas

After 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 development

300K+

Square feet

2028

Completion target

150 yrs

Of history honored

Art, Culture & Community

— 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."

Who We Are

Raasin in the Sun (RITS) 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.

RITS 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.

Pleasant Hill Is Born

c. 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 –1920s

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.

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.

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.

This ground has always meant Something

The History

"Urban Renewal" = Urban Removal

Mid–Late 1900s

25 Years of Fighting for This Moment

1999–2024

A cultural corridor Built to last

The Vision

Block 16

900 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 18

1100 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

Institutions That Will Root the Story

Cultural Anchors

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 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

Built With a Coalition

The Pleasant Hill Collaborative

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.

Raasin in the Sun (RITS)

Creative placemaking lead

Forgecraft Architecture

Local architecture

Servitas LLC

National mixed-use developer

TOPO

Austin-based commercial developer

Creative CultureWorks

Cultural strategy

Carter Design Associates & Moody-Nolan

Black-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.

Support the Mission