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For LIHTC and affordable housing developers

The Application Site Plan, With the Unit Count on It.

A tax-credit application needs a concept site plan long before a civil engineer is under contract: the site, the buildings with their unit counts, the parking with accessible stalls, and evidence that the land is not in a floodplain or a wetland. PlotForge™ loads the parcel from the address, screens it with a one-click Site Feasibility Report, and lets you drop labeled building pads with stories × units, fill the parking court, and print the unit count, the coverage and the stall summary on a branded sheet in minutes.

What does a concept site plan for a LIHTC application need to show?

A concept site plan for a tax-credit or affordable housing application shows the site with its property lines, the proposed buildings as labeled pads with stories and unit counts, the parking with accessible stalls counted, the access from the street, and the site constraints such as flood zone and wetlands. PlotForge™ draws it on the recorded parcel and totals the units, the coverage and the stalls on the sheet.

What the application reviewer looks for on the site exhibit

Scoring criteria differ by state agency, but the site exhibit is asked to prove the same things: the site holds the proposed unit count, the parking works, and the land is buildable. One sheet from PlotForge™ covers the list:

The site, assembled — one parcel or several merged into one site, every side dimensioned, from recorded parcel records

Buildings with unit counts — labeled pads with stories × units per floor; footprint SF, gross SF and unit count print on each pad and total in the takeoff

Parking with accessible stalls — a traced court filled with stalls, accessible stalls placed with van stalls and access aisles and counted, EV tiers, a summary that prints

The constraints — flood zone and the percent of the site in it, mapped wetlands, soils and slope from public data, every source named and dated

Access and site features — the drive from the street, walks, a community building pad, a playground or open-space zone with its area

A branded exhibit — the PDF with cover sheet, north arrow, scale and title block; your firm's logo on it with the White-Label add-on

How an affordable housing developer draws the concept

Load and screen

Type the address or parcel ID, merge any adjoining parcels, and run the Site Feasibility Report for flood, wetlands, soils and slope.

Pad the buildings

Drop labeled building pads with stories and units per floor. The unit count prints on each pad and totals across the site.

Park it

Trace the parking court and fill it. Accessible stalls place themselves and count; adjust the angle and read the new total.

Export the exhibit

The branded PDF with the cover sheet for the application, and the DXF for the civil engineer when the deal is awarded.

The tools affordable housing developers use

Concept building padsLabeled pads with stories × units per floor; footprint SF, gross SF and unit count print on the pad and total in the takeoff.How it works → Parking layout + ADA countsStalls at 90°, 60°, 45° or parallel with live counts; accessible stalls placed and counted per the 2010 ADA Standards, EV tiers, summary on the sheet. Reference geometry; local code governs.How it works → Multi-parcel handlingAssemble the site from several parcels and keep the former lot lines dashed for the combination filing.How it works → Live quantity takeoffPads, hardscape, unit counts and impervious coverage totaled live and printed on the sheet.How it works → Freeform zones & areasOpen space, the playground, a detention area or a future phase as a labeled zone with its square footage and a hatch.How it works → White-LabelYour firm's logo in the title block of every exported sheet in place of ours, as an add-on to a subscription.How it works →

Which plan fits an affordable housing developer

Applications every round

Contractor, $199/mo

Twenty concept plans or feasibility reports a month, every site saved, the DXF for the engineer after the award. Higher-volume plans include team seats for the development team; ask us.

A few sites a year

Studio, $29/mo

Save every site study in your account, share plan files with the architect, and buy plan credits when an exhibit is due. See Studio.

The firm's name on the exhibit

White-Label add-on

Your logo in the title block of every sheet and report, +$50/mo with Contractor or +$100/mo with Studio. See White-Label.

▶ Watch the lessonParking Lot Layout With ADA and EV Stalls ▶ Watch the lessonZones and Revision Clouds on a Site Plan ▶ Watch the lessonHow to Find Your Property Lines by Address

LIHTC and affordable housing developers FAQ

Can the site plan show the unit count for the application?

Yes. Each building pad carries a label, the number of stories and the units per floor; the unit count, the footprint and the gross square footage print on the pad and total across the site in the on-sheet takeoff.

Does it count accessible parking stalls?

Yes. When you fill a parking court, accessible stalls place themselves nearest the entrance you mark, with van stalls, striped access aisles and symbols, counted per the 2010 ADA Standards, and the parking summary prints on the sheet. It is reference geometry for the concept; the local code and your architect govern the final design.

Can I show the site is outside the floodplain?

The Site Feasibility Report states the FEMA flood zone or zones intersecting the parcel and the percent of the lot in each, flags any high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area, and names the source and the date on the sheet. It is a screening from public data, not a flood determination or an elevation certificate.

Can I put open space, a community building and a playground on it?

Yes. The community building is another pad; open space, a playground or a detention area is a labeled zone with its square footage and a hatch fill, so the site exhibit reads the way the application expects.

What happens when the deal is awarded?

Export the DXF. The site, the pads, the parking with separate ADA and EV layers, zones, contours and dimensions go to the civil engineer and the architect on named drafting layers, so the concept becomes the base of the real design.

Is a PlotForge™ site plan a survey?

No. The property lines are the recorded parcel lines from public records, drawn to scale over an aerial photo. That is what most building departments accept for a permit site plan, and it is not a boundary survey or an engineered drawing. If your office requires a sealed survey for this project, PlotForge can trace that recorded survey as the boundary and the sheet prints a notice saying so.

Does it work where I am?

PlotForge™ covers all 50 states and Washington, D.C.; the only exceptions in the country are named on the coverage page. It is also expanding into Canada, starting with select counties in Ontario and Alberta. The most reliable check is free: sign up, type the address, and watch the lot load.

Draw the application site plan in minutes

Load the site, screen it, pad the buildings with their units, fill the parking, export the exhibit. Free for 30 days, no credit card required; a clean export or a report is one plan credit from $29.

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