Montpelier selects DEW Properties for exclusive negotiations on Country Club Road housing project

Montpelier has selected DEW Properties for exclusive negotiations on a proposed housing project on Country Club Road, moving a long-stalled city development effort into its next phase.

The Montpelier City Council voted unanimously on July 22, 2026, to authorize the negotiations after a city subcommittee evaluated prospective developers. The action allows the city and DEW Properties to work through project terms, but it does not constitute final project approval or authorization to begin construction.

What the council decision changes

For residents, the immediate change is that the city can negotiate with one prospective developer rather than continue evaluating competing options. Those negotiations are expected to address the project’s scope and conditions before the city considers any final action.

The project is described as a housing development on Country Club Road and could add housing on city-controlled or city-managed land. However, the approved material does not verify how many homes would be built, how many would be affordable, what the purchase price would be, or how the project would be financed.

It also does not establish a construction schedule. No construction has been reported as underway, and the council’s vote should not be characterized as approval of the completed development.

Further review remains ahead

Montpelier’s Development Review Board considers development applications, including applications involving the flood plain. That formal review structure is relevant to future approvals for projects that proceed, although the available material does not say that a final application for the Country Club Road project has been filed or decided.

The city’s developer-selection process preceded the council vote. Reporting on the project said a city subcommittee would present its developer choice to the council; the council then approved exclusive negotiations with DEW Properties on July 22.

The next known step is negotiation. The final unit count, affordability requirements, development conditions, purchase price, financing and timeline remain unsettled in the available record. Until those terms are established and any required approvals are completed, the Country Club Road effort remains a project under negotiation rather than a permitted construction project.

For renters, homeowners, taxpayers and nearby businesses, that distinction matters: the vote advances the city’s housing effort, but it does not yet establish when housing would be available or what the finished development would include.