Big Decisions Shouldn't Feel Like Guesswork
You have a vision for a venue, but you're not sure where to start, or whether it will actually work.
It’s difficult when:
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You're worried a consultant will just tell you what you want to hear instead of the truth
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Getting this wrong might be risking your one chance to gain community trust and dollars
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You know what is needed, but don’t have the time or expertise to execute
You need real answers before you go any further. Not a guess, but a plan built on what your community actually wants and what the market can actually support.
WHO'S GUIDING YOU
You Don't Have to Do This Alone
Assembly Arts brings data driven research and real venue management experience to every feasibility study we do. We've done this work for cities, universities, and arts organizations across the country, and we know how to ask the right questions of the right people to get you real answers.
As a sister company to TheatreDNA, we're also connected to a full team of theatre planning and design experts. So when your project moves from "is this viable" to "let's build it," you're not starting over with someone new, you're continuing with a team that already knows your project.
THE PLAN
Here's How We Get You There
Every feasibility study starts in the same place: your community and your WHY behind the project. From there, we follow the path that makes sense for your project, but it generally looks like this.
STEP 1
Community Engagement & Assessment
This is where everything starts. We get to know your local stakeholders, user groups, and audience. What does your community want out of entertainment and creative space? What does each organization hope to accomplish in a new facility? We immerse ourselves in your community so we understand the motivations and the concerns before we recommend anything.
START HERE
STEP 2
Market & Demand Analysis
We determine whether the market can support what you're picturing, looking at audience location, demographics, entertainment spending trends, and the broader cultural economic health of your area, whether the goal is incubating local arts groups or national touring acts. We also study existing cultural facilities, meeting spaces, and live event venues nearby: their programming, utilization, location, amenities, and size. And we research your key competitors to find the gaps in what's currently being offered.
STEP 3
Benchmarking
Local data only tells part of the story. We run a national benchmarking search to identify and analyze comparable facilities, ones serving communities like yours with similar programming models, so your plan is grounded in what's actually working elsewhere, not just what's happening down the street.
STEP 4
Space Programming & Site Analysis
Once we understand your market and your community's goals, our sister company TheatreDNA translates that into physical reality: what kind of spaces you need, how big they should be, and whether your site can actually support them.
WITH THEATRE DNA
STEP 5
Cost Modeling
TheatreDNA, in collaboration with a cultural arts cost estimator, develop a comprehensive cost plan that is grounded in local construction trade and material costs and can adjust with you throughout the fundraising process
WITH THEATRE DNA
STEP 6
Business & Operational Planning
A successful business plan only works when your business goals and your mission line up, and both are rooted in market reality. We build a financial operating pro forma with estimated revenues and expenses from every applicable source, and we go further:
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Management Model: recommendations on ownership, governance, P3 strategies, staffing, and management structure for your facility
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Artistic Program Planning: a preliminary booking plan exploring touring productions, resident organizations, rentals, strategic partners, and other opportunities to grow both mission impact and revenue
STEP 7
Economic & Social Impact
We help you understand how your facility's ongoing operations will affect your community's economy, directly and indirectly, over time.
OPTIONAL
SUCCESS
What Moving Forward With Confidence Looks Like
A clear, data backed answer to "will this work." A plan your board, your city, and your donors can actually trust. And if the answer is yes, a frictionless step into design and execution with TheatreDNA, so momentum never stalls.
Without this groundwork, projects move forward on assumptions, and assumptions are how communities end up with buildings that don't get used, budgets that don't hold, and trust that's hard to earn back.
What Clients Say
"This project had a lot of stakeholders with a shared goal but different requirements to get there.
You did a fantastic job at listening to everyone, adapting initial assumptions to the needs of the
project, and presenting all of the information in a way that strengthened all of the partner's
relationships and built more enthusiasm for the project."
"
Bob Wingenroth
City Manager
City of Surprise, Arizona
“This is hands down the best consultant group myself and my team has every worked with.
They were fantastic communicators, met all of the deadlines and goals of the project, and left other departments who have had poor experiences with prior consultants feeling positive about the usefulness of a consultant. ”
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Julie Akerly
Arts & Culture Manager
City of Surpise, Arizona
"From my perspective, your team demonstrated a strong understanding of both the broader context and the nuances of each organization from the very beginning.
What set you apart, even during the procurement phase, was your genuine effort to understand not just the scope of work, but also the people and dynamics involved."
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Jon Cavaletto
President
Vista Center for the Arts Foundation