diff --git a/xos/tosca/resources/xossite.py b/xos/tosca/resources/xossite.py
index b4f33a6..4265338 100644
--- a/xos/tosca/resources/xossite.py
+++ b/xos/tosca/resources/xossite.py
@@ -23,6 +23,13 @@
 
         args = {"login_base": self.nodetemplate.name,
                 "name": display_name}
+
+        # copy simple string properties from the template into the arguments
+        for prop in ["site_url", ]:
+            v = self.get_property(prop)
+            if v:
+                args[prop] = v
+
         return args
 
     def get_existing_objs(self):
diff --git a/xos/tosca/samples/new_site_deploy_slice.yaml b/xos/tosca/samples/new_site_deploy_slice.yaml
index 1b1e9b6..3796e40 100644
--- a/xos/tosca/samples/new_site_deploy_slice.yaml
+++ b/xos/tosca/samples/new_site_deploy_slice.yaml
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
       type: tosca.nodes.Site
       properties:
           display_name: some new site
+          site_url: http://newsite.org/
       requirements:
           - deployment:
                node: newdeployment