Cypress Waters development in Coppell: what effect on schools and property values? (Dallas: RV park, for sale)

[europeanone]

My family is considering a move to Coppell this year. we are also considering other areas such as Allen. Though Coppel has a wonderfully rated ISD, I just read about Cypress Waters starting to be built. It seems like a huge project. Can anyone tell me whether people are anticipating the school district's performance to decline as a result of the influx of new (and transient) "apartment kids"? My twins will be entering 5th grade this fall. High school started in 4 years for them, which is when the Cypress project will be in full swing already. I'd also like to know the anticipated impact on property taxes and the neighborhood in general.

Finally, as an aside, do people do most of their shopping and entertainment in Coppell or do they travel to surrounding towns for that, such as to Southlake? Trying to assess how much of a "town" Coppell has. We will be traveling there this spring for a scouting mission. Thanks for your insights.

[Obamney1]

Coppell vs Allen? Two cities are really different from each other. I share your skepticism as such a big project will effect Coppell in many ways. Coppell does not offer much retail, dining, entertainment etc but one can always drive to other cities. Schools are good and location is awesome. I don't care for overall feel of the town but lots of people like it. There are too many warehouses in a very small town for my taste. Resale is stable and town is pretty much built out otherwise.

Allen doesn't have location, compareable schools or resale but does offer cheaper housing and tons of retail. I say if you can afford Coppell then look at West Plano as well. Just google 75093 zip code. You'll have a central location, stellar school, shopping, dining & entertainment. Basically we offer all that Coppell & Allen can offer if combined. You'll not get small town feel but everything else will be covered.

[mSooner]

So many things to say!

We recently moved to Coppell and at one point had similar concerns about Cypress Waters. I remember there being a lot of hullabaloo about it about 10 years ago when it was announced. Most of it seemed to be "the apartment kids will kill our schools!!!" but after reading a little more on the history, I think the bigger issue was the developer wanted to build a massive development that was technically in the City of Dallas, but would utilize Coppell and/or Irving resources that would be overtaxed. I think they reached a compromise a few years ago.

This is why I'm not worried:

--The apartments will be higer end and I'm guessing on the expensive side for awhile. In theory they could go downhill eventually, but I have a feeling there will be a lot of singles and small, younger families for a long time.

--It's not just apartments, there are home planned too.

--As noted above, there are schools, parks, and city utilities carved out of the developer's land to serve the community, so it wouldn't all dump into Coppell or Irving's existing city facilities

--It's going to be nice--it's not just piles of apartments. There will be shopping and restaurants around North Lake, too.

That being said, the longest we will be in our house is 7-9 years. I may reassess then whether we want to stay. It's nice to have all the open land around North Lake now--I might be really tired of the traffic in 5 years or so.

As for your other question, I would say most people in Coppell do ~80% of their shopping and dining outside of the city limits. But who cares? I drive 10 minutes west and I hit the Grapevine Mills area, less than 10 minutes south and I'm at MacArthur & 635 and all it has to offer, and 10 minutes north and I've got Lewisville. The advantage is all of this is NOT in your town!! What you do get IN the city limits is all of the community based stuff--kiddie sports leagues, farmers market, YMCA. Actually, Cypress Waters might add some close shopping and retail to what is already available.

I will say that some of the local restaurants aren't half bad and have a pretty strong following (J. Macklins, Ole's, 7 Salsas, etc.).

I am curious to see how it might affect property values and taxes. I suspect property values will be fine--heck, people are starting to tear down homes less than 30 years old--but I couldn't venture to guess about property taxes.

I don't care for overall feel of the town but lots of people like it. There are too many warehouses in a very small town for my taste.

I never got why people are upset about the warehouses. On an aerial map it looks concerning, but in reality, they are all on the edge of town away from everything else and they are nicely kept. It's really not a big deal at all.

We love it here. I know more than one person that grew up here and moved back when they got married/had kids. It's really a remarkably close-knit community for a suburb. And I love the fact that I can get to work in Plano and my husband can get to work downtown in under 30 minutes.

[Obamney1]

Dallas/North Lake: Cypress Waters Development

http://www.dmagazine.com/Home/2007/1...arts_Here.aspx

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfa..._to_issuin.php

[carroll4628]

I'd venture to say (in my experience), if the schools are top notch, the rentals on those apartments will also be top notch and only those that are truly interested and able to pay a premium for the school district, will be residing in Coppell. The are many immigrants (from all over the world) who chose to live in apartment or townhome communities because they don't want/need a yard to care for (among other reasons) who put a high value on education. It will increase the traffic, but I doubt it will bring down the school.

[Bypass13]

Yes Coppell would lose the small town status and schools/roads will get congested but they'll not loose the location that attracts people in first place. If they keep their schools at same level then they'll do fine. Just pray that fracking stays in control or resale would tank.

[TurtleCreek80]

I wouldn't worry about these apartments impacting schools- if anything, it could help the high school become even more competitive with an influx of families who value academic rigor. Besides, there are already auire a few apartments feeding into Coppell from the Valley Ranch area and that is the same demographic that fhe new decelopment will attract (people who want excellent schools but cant afford a house or prefer multi-family living).

Aside from HPISD and Southlake, every other school district has a decent apartment population. It does nothing to hurt the good schools (W Plano, Plano Sr, Flower Mound, etc).

Now, the impact on traffic could be another thing...but honestly, we're all impacted by that with the metroplex growing as fast as it is. My commute today is about 5 minutes longer than it was 5 years ago because even with a reverse commute, the Tollroad is more crowded than it used to be. I expect that trend to continue.

[jekutz]

I could write exactly what mSooner said. I adore our community (great kids activities, schools, parks, a few really good restaurants and close to everything without being in the middle of everything) and the whole warehouse thing just baffles me. I guess they are part of our city limits but not part of our "town". They are nice office complexes/warehouses and are on the border so never even occured to me as a negative. Anwyway we moved here 6 years ago and we had lots of concerns with the Cypress Waters project. If you google links about it you are hard pressed to find anything recent on the project. If you read some of the ones Obamney posted and other dated ones you could see the concern HOWEVER most of those articles are years old when very little was know (lots of speculation) about what would happen with this project. Now that the project is starting it is becoming more apparent that Cypress Waters will obvioulsy stir up traffic but it has lots to offer to the area too. Upscale housing/townhomes/apartments (which are being aimed at single and married professionals), shopping, restaurants, etc. The school district is also being proactive and has known about the project for years. New schools are in the planning stages, some new boundaries are being drawn and all in all they seem to have a good handle on things. There have been several comparisions to how Valley Ranch affected the district and there were growing pains but the schools remained on top of things and will continue to be a competive district.
I also have a 4th grader (younger ones too) and have no worries. Schools are planning to be built and I love the area so much it will take more than some really nice apartments, restaurants, new parks and trails, shopping and a little more traffic to chase me away

Now I will say I really like West Plano but we love visiting Fort Worth with the kids almost as much as Dallas and it puts us just enough farther that we ruled it out. Like being central to almost everything!

[Obamney1]

Here is an economical option for people who want Coppell but currently not in position to buy a pricy house. All of these are below $50,000 and located in Coppell's Golden Triangle and Oak park Mobile parks feeding to Coppell schools.
7 Mobile Homes for Sale in Coppell, Texas
There is an RV park near Sandy Lake as well that also doubles as a mobile park.
There are also several residential properties under $200,000 so all is not lost if one needs good location and top tier schools on tight budget. With Coppell's good resale you can always upgrade when possible without changing schools.

[adixyz]

It may not make a lot of difference to schools however with the conventional law of supply and demand, it might impact rentals and single family homes.
10,000+ residence construction is huuuuge.The whole project will take years to complete. Cypress Waters Phase 1 (570 units of apartments and Townhomes) have already begun. Rental business is very strong in North Irving/ Coppell, this may be the reason why the developer is going for rentals and not committing to single family homes. Last I heard about some single family homes along the eastern property to reduce the apartment density but I guess that will be a small number with lot of wrangling in all parties involved. Property taxes are very high in Coppell. They increased property taxes in 2010 to pay for the Cypress land. Lets see how the finances play when the new school construction begins.
Coppell house inventory (age, style) is not liked by many buyers and there are hardly any master planned communities. If you see the roads/ upkeep & relatively smaller lots in Coppell, compare them to FM or Southlake, you can see the difference. Location wise, you cannot beat Coppell but when you compare the property taxes, house inventory, schools...etc the balance moves prospective buyers to FM, Southlake, Frisco and other areas depending on their work and personal preferences.