Chris Cochran, Director of Community Planning and Revitilization at VT the Agency of Commerce and Community Development recently authored the article, "A Statewide, Build-ready catalog for Missing Middle Housing", featured on the Congress for the New Urbanism, or CNU.org website.  

"A Toolkit of the Vermont “Homes for All” initiative, a Charter Award-winning project in 2025, addresses regulatory barriers. Now, the state is creating a catalog of homes for manufactured missing-middle housing.

Instead of stopping at regulatory reform, the state is asking a harder question: What would it take to make small-scale housing not just legal — but routine? 

Building on its 2025 Charter Award–winning “Design and Do” Toolkit, Vermont has launched 802 Homes, a publicly accessible catalog of construction-ready, missing-middle housing plans aligned with administrative approval pathways, infrastructure investment, coordinated capital, builder training, and off-site construction. 

The initiative does not treat design, permitting, infrastructure, and finance as separate problems. It treats them as parts of a single production system — one that must function predictably if incremental infill is to move from theory to reality. 

In partnership with Utile Architects and Planners, Vermont is developing ten construction-ready plan sets that will be freely available statewide. The designs are being tested through public workshops, visual preference surveys, peer review, and market analysis to ensure they meet code, reflect community expectations, and respond to demand. Utile is supported by a team of local and regional experts in Vermont’s development, design, and construction landscape: All At Once, Logic Building Systems, Bensonwood, Mass Timber Advisors, and Tom Bursey Designs (AIAVT Immediate Past President).

By shifting design vetting upstream — before projects enter review — the catalog reduces front-end uncertainty. Builders can select plans that are technically resolved and code-aligned, lowering soft costs and minimizing redesign. When paired with administrative approval pathways, predictability shortens timelines and reduces financing risk — critical for incremental development. "

Read the full article here: https://www.cnu.org/publicsquare/2026/03/05/statewide-build-ready-catalog-missing-middle-housing