When seeking a location for a new child care center, individuals often overlook great opportunities in “repurposing” or “adaptive reuse” of existing buildings and space. Repurposing or adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an existing building for a purpose other than which it was originally built.
A great example of repurposing or adaptive reuse would be converting space within a commercial office or retail building for use as a child care center. Repurposing opportunities are often not considered – often because folks just do not know what a great option they can provide for conversion to child care space.
If you have been searching for just the right location to build your first or sixth child care business, spend some time researching space repurposing options in your market area. Start by doing an online search for commercial real estate for sale or lease. Contact commercial real estate brokers in your market and see if they might have listed or possibly know of a building/space within a building that could be repurposed for a child care business. Once you have located some possibilities, work with a creative architectural designer or engineer to determine if a conversion would be possible and at what cost.
Of course, you should also complete all of your other due diligence and market research to make sure the location is a great location for child care. How many children are withing three miles? What is the median household income for the area? Know where your parents and children will come from within the market.
I want to share an article about a new project that Bright Horizon Child Care is currently working on converting office space to use for child care in Greenwich, CT.
