House Plans and Custom Drafting in New York City, NY
On December 5, 2024, the New York City Council passed City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, and with it, Local Laws 126 and 127 opened the city's first real legal pathway for Ancillary Dwelling Units in owner-occupied one- and two-family homes. The Department of Buildings started accepting ADU permit applications in September 2025. For a city that has never had a workable ADU law, that is a genuinely new door, and it just opened.
What City of Yes Actually Allows
The rules are specific, and they matter for anyone budgeting a project around them. ADUs under Local Laws 126/127 are capped at 800 square feet, permitted only in owner-occupied one- and two-family homes, and excluded from flood zones and most low-density zones outside transit areas. That is a narrower lane than blanket ADU legalization in states like California, but it is the first time NYC homeowners have had a codified path to a basement unit, garage conversion, or backyard structure that DOB will actually permit.
New York State itself has no statewide ADU mandate. A statewide ADU bill has been introduced repeatedly since 2021 without passing, and Governor Hochul's own 2022 statewide ADU proposal was withdrawn after pushback from suburban and Long Island legislators. City of Yes is a New York City-only fix, built for a city-only housing shortage, and it does not extend to the rest of the state. If you're a homeowner in Queens or Staten Island who qualifies, you're working with a law that is, as of this year, brand new and largely untested at scale.
Building Activity Across the Five Boroughs
New York City added roughly 87,000 residents in 2024, bringing the population to about 8,478,000 and holding its position as the largest city in the country. The wider metro area, near 19.9 to 20 million people, grew by more than 213,000 in the same year. That growth doesn't sit still; it shows up in DOB's permit numbers. The department filed 2,744 total new-building permits in 2024, covering roughly 52,585 residential and hotel units, with 1,072 of those permits specifically for one- and two-family dwellings. That last figure is the one that matters most for a drafting firm: over a thousand permits a year for exactly the small-scale residential projects, additions, and now ADUs, that plans like ours are built for.
Home values tell a split story by borough. Zillow puts the citywide average home value at $817,745, up 4.2% year over year. Manhattan sits at $1,157,126 but is down 17.1% year over year, while Queens is climbing, up 3.5% to $657,321. A softening luxury market in Manhattan alongside rising values in Queens is exactly the kind of environment where homeowners look at additions, ADUs, and remodels instead of buying up, since renovating what you own can pencil out better than trading into a shifting sale market.
Where the Demand Is Right Now
ADU Plans & Design
This is the story of the year for NYC housing. With DOB just now accepting applications under Local Laws 126/127, homeowners in eligible one- and two-family homes are working with rules that barely have a track record yet. Getting an 800-square-foot ADU designed correctly the first time, inside the zoning and flood-zone limits, is the highest-value service we offer here.
ADU Plans & DesignHome Additions & Remodel Drafting
With over a thousand one- and two-family permits filed annually and Manhattan values pulling back while Queens values climb, a lot of owners are choosing to improve what they have rather than sell into an uneven market. Additions and remodels drafted to DOB submission standards fit that pattern directly.
Home Additions & Remodel DraftingPermit-Ready Drawings & As-Builts
DOB's review process is exacting, and New York has roughly 1,499 architects and firms listed on Houzz alone competing for the same projects. Clean, submission-ready drawings and accurate as-builts are what keep a project moving through plan review instead of stalling on corrections.
Permit-Ready Drawings & As-BuiltsCustom House Plans
New construction is a smaller slice of NYC's housing activity compared to renovation and infill, but it hasn't stopped. Custom plans for the one- and two-family filings within DOB's 2,744 new-building permits still need a drafting partner who can move fast and meet borough-specific requirements.
Custom House PlansRemote Drafting for a City With No Shortage of Options
New York homeowners aren't short on architects to call. Houzz alone lists around 1,499 architects and firms serving the city, the highest concentration of any market we work in. What's harder to find in that crowd is a drafting team that can turn around a City of Yes ADU set or a permit package on a straightforward schedule without requiring an in-person meeting to get started. We serve New York City homeowners, builders, and contractors entirely remotely, communicating by phone, email, and video, and delivering plans digitally wherever in the five boroughs your project sits.
Nearby Service Areas
New York City Drafting FAQ
Does New York City actually allow ADUs now?
Yes, but only recently and only under specific conditions. The City of Yes for Housing Opportunity plan passed the New York City Council on December 5, 2024, and Local Laws 126 and 127 lay out the rules for Ancillary Dwelling Units. ADUs are capped at 800 square feet, limited to owner-occupied one- and two-family homes, and excluded from flood zones and most low-density zones outside transit areas. DOB began accepting ADU permit applications in September 2025, so this is a genuinely new pathway, not an established one.
Is there a statewide ADU law in New York?
No. New York has no statewide ADU mandate. A statewide bill has been introduced repeatedly since 2021 without passing, and Governor Hochul withdrew her own 2022 statewide ADU proposal after opposition from suburban and Long Island lawmakers. The City of Yes ADU pathway applies only inside New York City limits, not statewide.
Can Apex Drafting handle permit sets for NYC's Department of Buildings?
We prepare permit-ready drawings and as-built documentation formatted for the jurisdiction submitting them, which for New York City means DOB review. We work remotely and coordinate directly with you or your filing representative on revisions, since DOB and borough-level requirements can be detailed and specific to zoning district and building type.
Do you work in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island?
Yes. Apex Drafting serves homeowners, builders, and contractors across all five boroughs remotely. We do not have a physical office in New York City; our drafting team works from Colorado City, Arizona, and delivers plans digitally to clients anywhere in the city.
Start Your New York City Project
Whether it's a City of Yes ADU, a DOB permit set, or a full custom home, get a free quote and see what a remote drafting team can do for your project.