Housing Development & Infrastructure Finance Advisory

Communities across Vermont are considering ways to add more housing, while managing real constraints on staff capacity, existing infrastructure, and long-term financial risk. Vermont’s Community Housing Infrastructure Program (CHIP) creates a new tool to help build the infrastructure necessary for more housing, but only if municipalities and developer partners can translate ideas into sound plans, defensible deals, and systems that hold up over time.

Assembly Theory helps municipalities do exactly that. Our work is grounded in a simple premise: housing infrastructure decisions are not just development transactions - they are long-term public commitments. We support towns and cities in making these decisions wisely from the start, developing meaningful housing plans, structuring projects responsibly, and putting the right operational and financial foundations in place to manage them and ensure program compliance long after construction is complete.

This work builds directly on our core practice: helping public and mission-driven organizations navigate complex, high-stakes decisions and design systems that are sustainable and effective over time.

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What we do

We build the foundation for communities to have success over the life-cycle of a CHIP project, while remaining flexible to engage on specific phases where additional expertise or capacity is needed.

We work with communities to translate housing goals into realistic, phased development strategies - grounded in infrastructure capacity, market conditions, and the practical requirements of public financing tools.

Housing strategy & readiness

We help municipalities evaluate proposals presented by private developers, testing feasibility, delivery risk, and financial projections, as well as ensuring alignment with public objectives.

Developer proposal evaluation

We shape and prepare applications to the Vermont Economic Progress Council that reflect real infrastructure needs, realistic financial assumptions, and defensible public risk, strengthening both competitiveness and long-term viability.

CHIP and infrastructure funding applications

We support negotiations of development agreements that clearly allocate risk, define enforceable performance expectations, and protect public investment, with a focus on agreements that work operationally, not just legally.

Development agreement structuring & negotiation

We design accounting, reporting, and oversight structures to track projects, infrastructure spending, debt service, and tax increment performance so municipalities are equipped to manage obligations confidently.

Financial systems & governance setup

How our approach is different

Much of the expertise in this space is oriented toward getting projects financed and built. Our focus is on public stewardship and long-term success.

The Assembly Theory team has deep experience with the challenges municipalities will face, including partnerships with professionals who have worked extensively on housing development in Vermont towns large and small.:

  • Deep experience working inside and alongside Vermont municipalities

  • Direct developer experience that can help municipalities see the project from the other side and reach a practical, realistic, and thoughtful position with a development partner

  • Strong grounding in municipal finance, budgeting, and public accountability, including TIF administration and multi-year capital planning

  • Hands-on leadership of complex, publicly funded programs with long time horizons

  • Strong understanding of Vermont's municipal governance and community engagement dynamics, and of the array of funding sources available

  • A practical, capacity-building approach tailored to small and mid-sized communities

We help municipalities decide whether CHIP fits their situation, structure applications that clear VEPC review, negotiate agreements that include community voices and protect public interests, and design structures that ensure long term success. All along, we work through a phased process and help towns determine whether and how to proceed at each step.

In each community, we work on one side of the table to maintain clarity and trust. Our objective is not to stay embedded indefinitely, but to help municipalities make sound decisions, establish durable systems, and move forward with confidence.