Feb 17, 2025 Story by: Editor
AUSTIN (KXAN) — For 79-year-old Myrtle Holmes Wilson, seeing her late mother’s face painted on the side of their family business is an emotional experience that often brings her to tears.
In East Austin, Wilson’s late father, Johnny Holmes, is widely associated with the success of Victory Grill. However, Wilson recalls that it was her mother, Basyle, who left her teaching job in Luling, withdrew her retirement savings, and played a crucial role in financing her father’s vision.
Today, that vision stands as one of the few remaining Black-owned and operated businesses on East 11th Street, an area that was once a thriving Black entertainment district in Austin.
Over the years, Wilson has received numerous offers to sell both the restaurant and her family home on East 12th Street. She believes these offers reflect the ongoing development pressures in her neighborhood.
“I just toss them in the can,” Wilson said about the cards left by developers. “We can’t turn it loose because we know the hard work that went into it.”
Wilson is among the shrinking number of longtime East Austin residents who have resisted selling their properties despite increasing buyout offers and redevelopment efforts along East 11th and East 12th streets. These changes are also evident in historically Black churches across East Austin, where many congregation members now commute from surrounding counties.
On East 11th Street, Wilson notes that while many buildings remain, the businesses and people have changed. Hillside Farmacy, a restaurant, now occupies the spot where a Black pharmacist’s office once stood. Across from Victory Grill, Shorty’s Bar has been replaced by a Vintage Bookstore and Wine Bar.
Instead of continuing to operate Victory Grill themselves, Wilson’s family prioritized leasing the space to Black restaurateurs who retained “Victory” in the name but modified it slightly.
‘They own it’
One street over, on East 12th Street, property records indicate that a Dallas-based developer, Eureka Holdings, Inc., has acquired at least 70 properties from I-35 to Airport Boulevard, making it the largest landowner along that stretch.
KXAN reached out multiple times to Eureka Holdings, Inc. for comments on its plans for East 12th Street. The company declined interview requests and stated it had no comment.
In 2017, KUT reported on the various LLCs and LPs that Eureka Holdings used to acquire property in East Austin, such as 2017 Honk Honk LP and 2015 Donut Wholes RC LP.
“They had a bunch of different kinds of LLCs. Nobody knew it was all one company,” said Preservation Austin Board President Miriam Conner.
Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison believes Eureka’s large-scale acquisitions over the past decade expose the lack of protective measures for East Austin.
“It would seem appropriate to me that there would be some mechanism that triggered an alarm when a sensitive, vulnerable area was, you know, having lots of sales,” Harper-Madison said. “Any private property owner or prospector could come in and buy what was for sale, and that’s exactly what they did.”
Many of the properties owned by Eureka on East 12th Street have historical significance, including a building at 1500 East 12th Street. Records show the building, which is over a century old, has served various roles, including a German grocery store, East End Saloon, and later as a hub for Black businesses and cultural organizations like the 1500 Barber and Beauty Shop.
In recent years, the building has remained vacant, its exterior covered in graffiti and windows boarded up. City records reveal that in 2024, the developer applied for a demolition permit.
“Of all Eureka holdings on 12th Street, it is probably the most historically significant that is not yet designated,” said Meghan King with Preservation Austin. “If they’re able to demolish this property, then that means that all the rest of them is green light, you know?”
Preservation Austin mobilized the community for months, urging Austin’s city council to designate 1500 East 12th as a historic landmark despite the property owner’s objections. On December 12, the council voted 9-2 in favor of the designation.
“There were tears. It sets a precedent of how we can save our culture,” Conner said.
Council Member Harper-Madison, who grew up in East Austin and represents the district, was one of the two members who voted against the historical designation. She argued that the designation would not provide the greatest benefit to the neighborhood.
“We need a grocery, a community market. We need eateries. I stand on my vote, I would vote no for historic preservation again if given the opportunity,” Harper-Madison said. “They own it. Let’s figure out a way to work with them where that’s the appropriate path forward.”
“You shouldn’t have to leave your community to get a better one, and that’s how I think about the redevelopment of 12th Street and the opportunities that present themselves to work with the entity that is Eureka. It’s going to require lots of contributions—meaningful contributions—from the community.”
Wilson, meanwhile, is focused on what she and her family can control. She and her brothers remain committed to keeping their family business and preserving their parents’ legacy on 11th Street. They hope that future generations will continue to honor and protect that legacy.
“Those places, they’ve been painted, but I know what they used to be, what the names of those little businesses were. You know, I still remember it,” Wilson said. Source: kxan
