Test how many homes a site can hold, and whether they pencil, by starting from a project that already knows apartments, townhomes, and parking. The Residential template loads US-focused layers, residential usages, apartment, townhome, and parking flows, and a proforma. This article covers the imperial version of the Residential template. A metric version is also available. Draw a site or building footprint, pick a flow, and see unit counts, density, and returns update in Analytics.
Start a project with the Residential template
Pick the Residential template from the Home screen or the new project flow. Giraffe copies the template's layers, usages, flows, analytics, property definitions, apps, and layout into the new project. The template does not copy geometries or scenarios, so the project starts with an empty map.
To start from the Home screen, click Residential under Start with a template.
OR
To start from the new project flow:
Open the menu and choose New > New Project.
Click Residential in the list of templates.
Learn more about starting from a template in Apply a template.
Layers in the Residential template
The Residential template adds two layer groups to the Layers panel: USA Environmental Layer Pack and Base Map. Both groups are turned on when the project opens.
Metric and Imperial:
Base Map
The Base Map group gives the Residential template its street, imagery, and building context. It holds six layers.
Map Labels
Transit Labels
Trees
3D Buildings. This layer hides any building inside your project boundary and fades in as you zoom closer.
Landmark Buildings
Satellite Imagery, at 0% opacity. Raise its opacity in the Layers panel to see the imagery.
Imperial only:
USA Environmental Layer Pack
The USA Environmental Layer Pack flags site constraints like flood zones, wetlands, and fault lines early in a feasibility study. It holds four layers.
USA Earthquake Faults
Elevation Contours USA 3DEP
FWS Wetlands Inventory, at 75% opacity
FEMA Flood Hazard Zones FIRMette 2024, at 75% opacity
The USA Environmental Layer Pack is only in the imperial version of the Residential template. The metric version does not include it.
Usages in the Residential template
The Residential template includes 40 usages. A usage sets shared properties, like color, height, and unit mix, for every geometry assigned to it. All values below are the template's starting values. Change any of them in the Usage Editor.
The costs, rents, and prices in the Residential template usages are placeholder values. Check and adjust every cost, rent, and price to match your project's location and local market before you rely on the results.
Learn how usages work in Usages Overview.
Apartment building usages
The Residential template has two apartment building usages. Each one splits its floor area into a mix of unit types, so Analytics can count dwellings, residents, and parking demand.
Residential: 4 levels, 10.5 ft floor to floor, 80% efficiency, 72% sell efficiency. The unit mix is 20.4% studios at 500 ft², 34.6% one-bedrooms at 700 ft², 37% two-bedrooms at 750 ft², and 8% three-bedrooms at 900 ft².
Garden Apartments: 3 levels, 10 ft floor to floor, 90% efficiency, 80% sell efficiency. The unit mix is 25% one-bedrooms at 650 ft², 45% two-bedrooms at 800 ft², and 30% three-bedrooms at 950 ft².
Parking required and residents per unit in each apartment usage:
Unit type | Residential: parking | Residential: residents | Garden Apartments: parking | Garden Apartments: residents |
Studio | 1 | 1 | – | – |
1 bed | 1 | 1.5 | 1 | 1.5 |
2 bed | 1.5 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
3 bed | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
Dwelling usages
The Residential template has seven dwelling usages. Each geometry with one of these usages counts as individual homes in Analytics.
Usage | Levels | Floor to floor | Dwellings | Residents | Parking required |
Studio | 1 | 10.5 ft | 1 per level | 1 | 1 |
1 Bedroom | 1 | 10.5 ft | 1 per level | 1.5 | 1 |
2 Bedroom | 1 | 10.5 ft | 1 per level | 2 | 1 |
3 Bedroom | 1 | 10.5 ft | 1 per level | 2.5 | 2 |
4 Bedroom | 1 | 10.5 ft | 1 per level | 2.5 | 2 |
Townhome | 2 | 10 ft | 1 | 2.5 | 2 |
Single Family | 2 | 11 ft | 1 | 3.5 | 2 |
Other building usages
The Residential template has five more Building usages for the non-residential parts of a project. Parking Required is bays per 1,000 ft².
Community: 1 level, 13 ft floor to floor, 90% efficiency. Parking Required 2.0.
Amenity: 1 level, 13.1 ft floor to floor, 90% efficiency, 85% sell efficiency. Parking Required 3.0.
Core: stair and elevator cores. 1 level, 10.5 ft floor to floor, with no rentable area.
Corridor: shared hallways. 4 levels, 10.5 ft floor to floor, with no rentable area.
Balcony: 1 level, 10.5 ft floor to floor, with no facade and no rentable area.
Parking usages
The Residential template has three parking usages. Parking Provided is bays per 1,000 ft².
Carpark - On Grade: surface parking. Parking Provided 2.65.
Carpark - Multi-Deck: an above-ground parking garage. 10.5 ft floor to floor. Parking Provided 1.86.
Carpark - Underground: a below-grade parking structure. 2 levels, 10 ft floor to floor. Parking Provided 1.86.
Paving, roads, and paths
The Residential template has four usages for hardscape and access.
Road: 24 ft wide with a 3 ft pavement and 25 ft filleted corners.
Path: a 3 ft pavement with 6 ft filleted corners.
Plaza: light gray paving.
Paved Area: mid gray paving.
Landscape usages
The Residential template has nine Landscape usages for open space, water, and trees.
Landscape - Simple: light green planting.
Landscape - Deep Planting: green planting, 0.5 ft tall.
Landscape - Feature Planting: dark green planting, 1 ft tall.
Sports Field: a green playing surface.
Pool: a light blue pool surface.
Detention Basin: a light blue stormwater basin, 5 ft deep.
Tree - Deciduous, Tree - Coniferous, and Tree - Palm: 3D tree models, each with a 13.1 ft canopy radius.
3D massing usages
The Residential template has two 3D usages for context massing.
Context: light gray massing for neighboring buildings. New geometries start at 3 levels with an 11 ft floor to floor.
Generic 3D: plain massing. New geometries start 13.1 ft tall.
Reference and generic usages
The Residential template has eight usages for annotation and general drawing.
Parcel: a red dash-dot outline for property lines.
Envelope: a purple dash-dot outline with a light fill for buildable areas.
Region: a gray dashed outline for marking areas.
Pin: a labeled point.
Leader: a dashed line with an arrow for callouts.
Generic Point, Generic Line, and Generic Polygon: plain geometries with no preset behavior.
Flows in the Residential template
The Residential template includes eleven flows. A flow turns one geometry into a full layout, like an apartment building split into units or a parking lot filled with bays. To use one, select a geometry, open Flow Controls in the Properties panel, and pick the flow. Its inputs appear under the flow picker.
Learn how flows work in Flow Overview.
Basic Apartments flow
The Basic Apartments flow turns a line or polygon into a 4-level Residential building split into apartments. Adjust the unit types and mix in the Unit Mix group under Flow Controls in the Properties panel. The starting mix is 20.4% studios, 34.6% one-bedrooms, 37% two-bedrooms, and 8% three-bedrooms.
Basic Skeleton Apartments flow
The Basic Skeleton Apartments flow turns a line or polygon into a 4-level Residential building with a central corridor, cores at inside corners, and three-bedroom units at outside corners and ends. It fills any enclosed courtyard with Landscape - Simple and splits the remaining floor area into units. The starting mix is 20.4% studios at 484 ft², 34.6% one-bedrooms at 646 ft², 37% two-bedrooms at 753 ft², and 8% three-bedrooms at 915 ft². Adjust these settings under Flow Controls in the Properties panel.
Garden flow
The Garden flow turns a site polygon into a garden apartment layout with 3-level buildings, an internal road, surface parking with landscaped islands, and open space. Each building has a corridor and splits into units. Find its inputs under Flow Controls in the Properties panel.
Exclusion Areas: pick geometries on the map to keep clear of the layout.
Garden Inputs: a 24 ft road, 70 ft by 180 ft buildings, a 50 ft primary setback, a 20 ft secondary setback, a 10 ft drive setback, and 18 ft parking depth.
Unit mix: 5% studios at 650 ft², 45% one-bedrooms at 850 ft², 45% two-bedrooms at 950 ft², and 5% three-bedrooms at 1,050 ft². Four-bedrooms at 1,150 ft² start at 0%.
Parking: 18 ft by 9.5 ft bays with 24 ft drive aisles.
Townhomes flow
The Townhomes flow turns a site polygon into rows of 2-level townhomes with an internal road, surface parking with landscaped islands, and open space. Each row splits into 20 ft wide homes. Find its inputs under Flow Controls in the Properties panel.
Exclusion Areas: pick geometries on the map to keep clear of the layout.
Garden Inputs: a 24 ft road, 40 ft by 120 ft townhome rows, 15 ft primary and secondary setbacks, and an 18 ft drive setback.
Parking: 18 ft by 9 ft bays with 24 ft drive aisles.
Simple Buildable Envelope flow
The Simple Buildable Envelope flow turns a parcel polygon into a massing of the buildable area, so you can test a design against zoning before you draw buildings. It draws the setback line with the Parcel usage and the massing with the Envelope usage, up to a 65 ft maximum height. Adjust the front, side, and rear setbacks and the maximum height under Flow Controls in the Properties panel.
Parking Bays flows
The USA Parking Bays flow fills a polygon with 18 ft by 9 ft surface parking bays and 19 ft drive aisles, using the Carpark - On Grade usage. Adjust the parking layout under Flow Controls in the Properties panel.
Parking Garage flow
The USA Parking Garage flow turns a polygon into a 3-level structured garage with 18 ft by 9 ft bays and 19 ft drive aisles, using the Carpark - Multi-Deck usage. Adjust the parking layout under Flow Controls in the Properties panel.
Underground Parking flow
The USA Underground Parking flow turns a polygon into a 2-level below-grade garage with 18 ft by 9 ft bays and 19 ft drive aisles, using the Carpark - Underground usage. Adjust the parking layout under Flow Controls in the Properties panel.
Park with Trees flow
The Park with Trees flow turns a polygon into Landscape - Simple planting and scatters 20 Tree - Deciduous trees across it at random, with sizes that vary by up to 20%. Change the tree count and spread under Flow Controls in the Properties panel.
Row of Trees flow
The Row of Trees flow turns a line into a row of evenly spaced Tree - Deciduous trees, with sizes that vary by up to 50%. Change the spacing in the Trees group under Flow Controls in the Properties panel.
Pond with trees flow
The Pond with trees flow turns a polygon into a Detention Basin with rounded edges, ringed by planting and trees for a natural look. Find its inputs under Flow Controls in the Properties panel.
Corner Rounding: sets how much the pond's corners curve.
Grassy Areas: places 50 planting patches around the pond at random.
Analytics in the Residential template
The Residential template adds two tabs to Analytics. The Proforma tab runs from construction cost through to residual land value. The Site Plan tab tracks unit counts, density, and parking. Bold values are assumptions you can edit. Everything else calculates from your geometries.
The rates, fees, and costs in the Residential proforma are placeholder values. Check and adjust every cost, rate, and assumption to match your project's location and local market before you rely on the results.
Construction Costs
The Construction Costs category on the Residential Proforma tab estimates the cost to build.
Hard Cost / Sf Estimate: $280 per square foot.
Hard Cost Estimate: the Hard Cost / Sf Estimate times the gross building area of every building.
Soft Cost %: 20%.
Soft Cost Estimate: the Soft Cost % times the Hard Cost Estimate.
Contingency %: 10%.
Contingency: the Contingency % times the hard and soft cost estimates.
Estimated Construction Costs: hard cost, soft cost, and contingency added together.
Fees
The Fees category on the Residential Proforma tab covers the developer fee.
Developer Fee: 3%.
Est Developer Fee: the Developer Fee times the Estimated Construction Costs.
Revenue
The Revenue category on the Residential Proforma tab estimates yearly income.
Total Potential Rent: the Dwelling Price of every dwelling, times 12. Enter Dwelling Price as a monthly rent.
Vacancy: 5%.
Operating Expenses: 15%.
Revenue Forecast: Total Potential Rent after vacancy.
NOI: the Revenue Forecast after operating expenses.
Feasibility
The Feasibility category on the Residential Proforma tab shows what the land is worth.
NOI: the NOI from the Revenue category.
Cap Rate: 6.5%.
Stabilized Value: NOI divided by the Cap Rate.
Residual Land Value: Stabilized Value minus Estimated Construction Costs and the total from the Fees category.
Dwelling counts
The dwelling counts on the Residential Site Plan tab show how many of each home type the layout holds: Studio Count, 1 Bedroom Count, 2 Bedroom Count, 3 Bedroom Count, 4 Bedroom Count, and Townhome Count.
Content note: confirm the dwelling counts show on the Site Plan tab, and add the category name, before publishing. The measures belong to a category the template does not define.
Area Schedule
The Area Schedule category on the Residential Site Plan tab measures building area and density.
Gross Building Area - Residential: the gross building area of every building with dwellings.
Gross Building Area - Other: the gross building area of every building without dwellings.
Gross Site Area: the project boundary area in acres.
Dwelling Density: total dwellings divided by Gross Site Area, in dwelling units per acre (DU/AC).
Parking Provided
The Parking Provided category on the Residential Site Plan tab counts parking bays by type.
Standard On Grade: bays in Carpark - On Grade geometries.
Structured: bays in Carpark - Multi-Deck geometries.
Underground: bays in Carpark - Underground geometries.