Overlaying Subdivision Site Plans on Satellite Imagery

[GriffinBurns]

I work for a national homebuilder and would like to create a map showing the locations of all subdivisions across the country. I would like to overlay the actual site plan on a satellite image and be able to add labels with essential information such a lot count, lot size etc.

I have access to all CAD files and any other files the engineers use to develop the site plans, would it be as simple as a drag and drop into ArcGIS to create this map if I was able to get the site plans from the engineers? I know that they use coordinate systems when creating the land plans so I am hoping this is a relatively easy process.

What files would I need from the engineers in order to make this possible?

[DanPatterson_Retired]

You said all around the world... so I doubt that your subdivision plan coordinates are recorded in decimal degrees so it would not be easy.  Why don't you investigate other options which are far simpler.  You could create a map with hyperlinks to images of the plans using arcmap.  You could even look at story map or ArcGIS earth but none support cad directly, if memory serves.  I think I would begin with a map showing the point locations of the sites over the world, on the platform of your choice, then progress from there.

[GriffinBurns]

These sites would just be within the continental US, would that make any difference?

[DanPatterson_Retired]

No... it is even more unlikely that the site plans are recorded in a projected coordinate system that spans the U.S.

[WesMiller]

You could use About georeferencing CAD datasets—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop, ​but that sounds like a lot of work to do each one. You could create a spread sheet of the subdivisions with decimal degree xy data and the associated attributes.Add XY Coordinates—Help | ArcGIS for Desktop

[DarrenWiens2]

If you can convince the CAD operators to deliver proper GIS feature classes with associated spatial reference information, then yes, it would be as simple as drag and drop. However, the easy thing for CAD operators to deliver is usually a DWG with no spatial reference, often built upon a custom spatial reference system that is impossible to guess if not given the parameters. If that's the case, it can be a lot of work to track those down, even for a single project.

[NeilAyres]

So true Darren.

CAD