Last house on Rainey Street: Family trying to decide what to do after owner's death

AUSTIN, Texas - One little house still stands amid the high-rises and bars of Austin’s Rainey Street District. The owner fought for decades to keep his home. 

Now, following his death, his family must decide what comes next.

What they're saying:

Before Rainey Street became one of Austin’s most popular places to go out, it was a neighborhood.

Zacarias Alba said when he was growing up here, the view looked nothing like it does now.

"When I was younger, it was houses. That's all it was, it's a great neighborhood, whether it be on this side of I-35 or that side, it just always been a really tight knit neighborhood the whole time," Zacarias Alba said.

Then came a change that would transform Rainey Street. In 2005, the city rezoned the neighborhood, opening the door for downtown-scale development.

One-by-one, the high-rises went up, the old houses became bars and restaurants, and the quiet residential neighborhood became a destination. One house refused to disappear.

"You see the changes, high rises everywhere, you know, gentrification like crazy, you know, and my grandfather, you know, he was, he really wanted to stick around and make sure, like, you know, his history, if anything, stayed around here the whole time he could," Alba said.

Even as Austin changed around him, Jesse Alba kept doing the same things he always had.

"You'd still see him out here, you know, mowing his grass and all that while people were going around to go party, you know," Alba said.

Now, the man who held on to the last home in the Rainey Street District is gone. Jesse Alba passed away earlier this week.

"I want him to be remembered that he was the guy who was out here painting. He was out here, you know, still cutting his grass as much as he could. Everybody walked down being crazy. Who's that guy? Oh, it's, you know, it was Mr. Alba. You know, he was the guy that this is his house," Alba said.

By the numbers:

Zacarias' grandfather bought the house at 701 River Street from his grandfather in 1966.

"The total amount of the house is $3,750, monthly mortgage was $40.60," Alba said.

As the value of land around him soared, so did the interest in his property.

"They knocked on my father’s door constantly. Let me sell your house, let me put your house on the market, and my dad would close the door on them," Lisa Alba said.

At one point, the house was put on the market for $10 million, but Alba never ended up selling it. His family said it wasn’t just property to him, it was home.

"He fought the changes," Alba said.

What's next:

Now, the future of the house is unclear. The family said they’ll be meeting soon to decide what is next and whether the house Alba spent so many years fighting to keep, will remain standing.

"He stuck through a lot of hardships in order to keep his legacy going on," Alba said. "I’d love to see it stay, you know?"

Records indicate the property is currently appraised at nearly $1.8 million.

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