From raw parcel
to finished community.

Every community starts the same way: a raw parcel and a set of open questions. Here's how a site typically moves from survey to city approval — this example walks a 5-acre parcel, but the same process scales from a handful of lots up to 20+ acres. The figures below are illustrative; a real land plan is sized to your parcel.

STEP 01

Boundary & Topo Survey

We start with a full boundary and topographic survey of the parcel — trees, easements, floodplain, existing utility stubs — before a single unit is drawn.

5.00 ACRES SURVEYED

STEP 02

How Many Homes?

With the survey in hand, we test unit yield against setbacks and parking ratios to answer the first real question: how many homes can this parcel support without feeling crowded?

~34–40 TOWNHOME UNITS (ILLUSTRATIVE)

STEP 03

Amenity: Pool & Pavilion, or Courts?

Amenity space competes directly with unit count, so it's decided early. A pool and pavilion reads as a family gathering space; tennis or pickleball courts serve an active-lifestyle buyer. Both can't always fit — we model the trade-off.

POOL + PAVILION — or — TENNIS / PICKLEBALL COURTS

STEP 04

Driveway Strategy

Driveway length quietly shapes the whole plan. Full 18' driveways give each unit private guest parking but consume more paved area and push the buildable envelope back. Minimal 5'–8' aprons return that space to yard and street presence, leaning on shared or street parking instead.

18' FULL DRIVEWAY — vs — 5'–8' MINIMAL APRON

STEP 05

Detention & Civil Engineering

Every municipality requires stormwater detention to be sized and sited before a plan can be approved — it's factored in alongside unit count and amenities, not bolted on afterward. For larger sites and any community with shared driveways, we bring a licensed civil engineer onto the team at this stage to carry drainage, grading, and utility design through to final approval.

MUNICIPAL DETENTION SIZED CIVIL ENGINEER ENGAGED (LARGER / SHARED-DRIVEWAY SITES)

STEP 06

Early Concepts to Final Land Plan

Several massing and layout concepts are tested side by side against the decisions above, before one direction is refined into the final land plan — unit count, road layout, amenity siting, detention, and easements all locked in.

CONCEPT A

CONCEPT B

CONCEPT C

FINAL PLAN

STEP 07

Plat Submittal & City Approval

The final land plan is sent to the plat company for technical review and drafting of the final submittal, then filed with the City for entitlement approval — the last gate before the community moves toward construction.

SENT TO PLAT COMPANY FILED WITH CITY

Pavilions, clubhouses, and other shared community amenities are catalogued separately — see Amenities below.

Pavilions, clubhouses, pools, and covered mailbox structures CityDesign has planned across communities. Detail level varies by project — full code/consultant data is shown only where the construction set has been uploaded and reviewed.

Spanning subdivisions across the Houston area, plus select custom and outside-client work. Note: Shepherd Heights includes 48 lots built by Riverway Homes on land CityDesign planned — those homes were designed by others and are marked accordingly below.

Job A004 (1526 Auline Lane, Craig Woods) and Job A006 (Eado Edge) are recent additions — several plans in these jobs are still awaiting confirmed footprints, elevation photography, or final specs, and are marked accordingly.

Min Bedrooms Any 2+ 3+ 4+ 5+

Min Bathrooms Any 2+ 3+ 4+

Square Footage Any Under 2,000 2,000 – 3,000 3,000 – 4,000 4,000+

Product Type Any Single-Family Townhome

Building Width Any Under 22 ft 22–24 ft 24 ft+

Garage Any 2-Car 3-Car

Subdivision / Job # Any Shepherd Heights — L003 Thornton Oaks — L006 Ranch House — N001 Riverway on Caroline — N006 Riverway at Jackson Hill — N007 2801 Albans (Custom) — N009 Riverway on Maxie — N018 Eigel & Larkin Streets — A003 / A003.5 Buffalo Pointe — A039 Craig Woods (Custom) — A004 Eado Edge — A006 The Reserve at Spring Branch — N016 Rose at Olive Patio Homes — M026 Oak Forest Addition — N022 Westlawn Terrace — E027 Peden Street Green — E029 Rutland Street — D001 Peden Street (1301/1303) — C008

Style

All

Modern

Transitional

Contemporary

Heritage

Urban

Coastal

Resort

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Enter a parcel's dimensions and required setbacks to see the buildable envelope — the maximum footprint available for townhome buildings once zoning setbacks are applied. Select one of our plans below to check whether its actual footprint fits.