GreyRock Ridge in Circle C (San Antonio, Austin: 2015, new house, transfer) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

dsp2 · 07-07-2018, 10:58 AM

Hi, everyone. We have moved to Austin and are looking for a home. We are strongly considering Circle C, and have noticed the Greyrock Ridge development. This seems to be one of the last areas being developed in Circle C along with Avana. Does anyone have any opinions on this area (pro or con)?

Baranoff appears to be a strong elementary school and Bailey appears pretty good as a middle school. Not quite as highly regarded as the other schools in Circle C, but overall very good. The commute to the schools seems potentially troublesome, though I believe a new school is coming near Avana.

Looking to commute to downtown for work by car or possibly the 111 bus.

Any thoughts on the area? Schools? Commute? Potential resale? Things coming to the area (retail, etc)?

Thanks for any help!

ashbeeigh · 07-07-2018, 01:06 PM

I am surprised that's not a Baldwin feeder school (actually checked before posting). Either way, yes, Baranoff is a good elementary school. I work directly with counseling staff at the elementary, middle and high school levels and they are very attentive to needs of their students. Bailey can be a handful. From my understanding they get a lot of transfers from the Covington and even Martin area (Lamar and Murchison are the only middles closed to transfer). Baranoff is also closed to transfer as is the high school, Bowie (which for a while aloud sibling transfers but isn't even allowing that at this point). Yes, there will be a new elementary being built, but I don't believe there is anything set in stone as to when it will start construction. If you want my honest opinion, I would look for a home that went to Gorzycki instead of Bailey, out of the two that feed into Bowie. But, that's just me.

You are right to be a bit concerned about the commute heading north. It looks like there's really no way around getting onto Mopac from that current location. There is, obviously, construction to finish up connecting 45 to 35 and the expansion of Mopac down that way. FWIW, I have gotten stuck in mopac traffic heading north at 1pm in the middle of a school day. I was commuting from north Austin to Slaughter and Brodie for about 6 months and just cringed at the site of all the people heading north on Mopac. It looks pretty hideous. I chose to move to Onion Creek Parkway so I will be going up south first and will be stuck at Manchaca Road construction for a bit but that construction looks close to done. If this is a long term investment I might consider it with the construction wrapping up in the next few years Can you bear that construction mess for that amount of time?

Amenities such as shopping and all those things are close, but they aren't out your front door. Closest shopping with be the Circle C HEB and more retail heavy shopping would probably have to be done at South Park Meadows which could be about a 30 minute drive the way traffic is right now. You do have CIrcle C Park and the Veloway nearby. It's not hard to get to Zilker if you can handle the mopac traffic heading north. It's easier to get to San Antonio and Kyle/Buda from there if you need to head that way for any reason.

Hope that helps a bit.

dsp2 · 07-07-2018, 06:57 PM

That is extremely helpful. Thank you!

Just did the drive from the house to the school. It is a bit of a hike even without traffic.

Hmmm....I would love to have one of these new homes, and we like being towards the South and are attracted to Circle C. But dealing with a big school commute and then uncertainty about having to switch in a few years might not be ideal. If our kid switched to the Avana elementary school when it was done, would they still zone them to Bailey instead of Gorzycki? Would be a bit of a school whiplash.

Need to sleep on this one. Or, may look for a home within one of the more established parts of Circle C zoned to Clayton or Kiker.

We are also interested in Northwest Hills, though all of our looking since we've been down here has been in the Circle C area (we looked up in Northwest Hills a bit earlier this year before moving).

Thank you again for the super helpful information!

ashbeeigh · 07-07-2018, 08:08 PM

Northwest hills would be a trek and would also involve construction with the 183/35 construction starting. I don’t know as much about those schools.

I’m not sure what/if the boundaries of the new SW elementary school will be like. It is to relieve overcrowding at Baranoff and Kiker. From my understanding Bailey boundaries are east of impact and gorzycki is west of mopac. Your kiddo may have to move if you go to kiker as well; it has the largest population of all AISD elementaries at this point. With Clayton being right in the middle of circle c I don’t see the boundaries changing there.

AMJ27 · 07-10-2018, 12:26 AM

Since my kids are getting older, I haven't kept up as much with the elementary school news, but I wouldn't hold your breath for a new elementary school being built anytime soon. When we moved here 8 years ago, everyone seemed to think that there would be a new SW Austin high school being built within a few years and that isn't the case.

I live in Circle C and the big problem with Grey Rock is the Baranoff/Bailey issue. It's a long, awkward commute that will be extra bad for the next year or so with the construction. Between Gorzycki and Bailey, Gorzycki is definitely the more favorable middle school. Baranoff is pretty well regarded, but it's nice to be physically close to your elementary school. Most of the kids at Baranoff are going to live in Shady Hollow, so not only will you be driving to school, but you will be driving to playdates, activities, etc. It would be a fine choice if you had high schoolers since it's zoned to Bowie along with the rest of Circle C.

If my heart was set on a new home in Circle C, I would see what was left in Avana since they are zoned to Kiker over Grey Rock. We sort of wanted a new house when we moved here eight years ago, but ended up with a resale in Circle C proper and have been very happy.

As for shopping...I don't ever go to Southpark Meadows, and I don't really know anyone who does. It's a slow drive over there. Everyone pretty much shops in Sunset Valley. It's just a couple of minutes up Mopac and has Target, Home Depot, etc. For groceries, everyone goes to the Circle C HEB or Costco/Whole Foods on William Cannon.

Aquitaine · 07-10-2018, 03:04 PM

We lived in Avana from 2012-2015 and I'd second everything AJM27 said. We paid $350 in 2012, sold for $425 (as everything we do is in East Austin -- not any dislike of Circle C in the least) and it's probably now worth $475.

I will say that I'd hesitate to pay $475 for some of the tract homes in Avana but that's Austin for you these days. Our house was a spec home, new. It was (and is) a nice house but not a half million dollar property.

ashbeeigh · 07-10-2018, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AMJ27

As for shopping...I don't ever go to Southpark Meadows, and I don't really know anyone who does. It's a slow drive over there. Everyone pretty much shops in Sunset Valley. It's just a couple of minutes up Mopac and has Target, Home Depot, etc. For groceries, everyone goes to the Circle C HEB or Costco/Whole Foods on William Cannon.

True. Didn't think of that. I'm about 15 minutes from Circle C so it's easier for me to hit up SPM then it is Sunset Valley.

dsp2 · 07-10-2018, 08:51 PM

Thank you so much, everyone! I really appreciate all of the perspectives. Incredibly helpful!

South_ATX · 07-11-2018, 07:08 AM

I am currently building in Avana and they are indeed building a new school on Escarpment as this was part of the 2017 bond we voted for. Here is a link to the design and according this this document they are to start building in 2019 for an opening in 2020.

We chose Avana specifically because we want the ability to walk or ride bikes with our kids to school. I live in Villages at Western oaks currently and commute to downtown, the commute is fine. I know the commute will be worse in Avana for the first year but should improve once the Mopac intersections project is complete and mopac goes underneath slaughter and lacrosse intersections. There is always the option of taking Escaepment to Slaughter or Davis is traffic is real backed up.

One other thing to keep note of, the section of Avana that is being built out now is in the city of Austin but is in Hays county. The official boundary has these houses in Hays CISD as well, however AISD was given the land to build the new elementary school by the builder in exchange for tracking all the houses in the neighborhood to the same AISD schools. So the only real difference is the property tax you pay in the Hays section will be slightly higher than the Travis section.

dsp2 · 07-11-2018, 07:26 AM

Thank you! We just spent about 90 minutes at Avana and loved it. Our biggest challenge is timing - there doesn't seem to be a floorplan available in the timeframe in which we need it.

Thank you for the info on the school. We drove past the sign announcing the school several times over the last couple weeks, and spoke with the builders in both Avana and Greyrock Ridge about it. I was unclear on the timing, though. Greyrock told us next year; it sounds like it would be 2 more school years. It sounds like you will have a great setup in Avana!

Also, thank you for the commuting info. I have also been looking at mass transit options. Have you ever taken the 111 into town? I was wondering if folks parked anywhere off Escarpment to catch that bus. There are also some park and rides in South Austin. Not sure if those are viable options (if there are usually spots open, etc).

Thanks again for all of the help and info!