The model concept for La Casita at Syracuse University can be traced to Spanish Harlem and the South Bronx, where back in the 1970s, José (Chema) Soto set out to build a wooden structure similar to the houses that were once typical of the rural Puerto Rican regions and throughout the Caribbean. With the help of neighbors, La Casita de Chema (today, Centro Cultural Ricón Criollo) was created as a bright, lively, and sustainable space for Puerto Rican and other Latino communities to gather, celebrate their culture and traditions, host events, play music, dance, or simply visit. The movement grew throughout the 1970s and 1980s, during which a number of casitas were built, reclaiming socially, environmentally, and culturally damaged barrio ground. Following in these footsteps, Syracuse University's La Casita is also located in a reclaimed and repurposed space, the historic Lincoln Building of the city's Near Westside neighborhood on Otisco Street.
