Hi - I own a site in the central coast and would like to develop a child care centre on it in the future. Putting this question out to anyone with experience in this field and hope I can get some general advice on the process for this. Cheers,
You probably already know some of this but, certain sqm per child for indoor space and certain sqm per child for outdoor space, may need acoustic and traffic reports, staff parking and drop off considerations, specialist landscape designer recommended.
Thank you for the reply Anthony. I am a town planner myself. I am aware of all the DA process and the guidelines. However, I am not very knowledgeable in terms of the development process. I'm hoping to rent the building out to a childcare provider. Any guidance on where to start? Many thanks.
A lease with a child care operator is step one. Some will prepare the plan for you to ensure it suits their requirements. At the very least, canvass the market for operators to get a sense for who, if anyone, is interested and then delve deeper. Some will pay much higher rents, but it is commensurate with the specification they demand. No point spending $1.5-2.5m building a building that doesn't match their specification. These guys expect full turn key product, so the level of spec can shift the needle on the feaso dramatically - they simply bring in toys and furnish and are good to go. Leases are based on $XX per place[kid] as well and not sqm. I'd start by speaking to a local commercial leasing agent, and they can canvass the market for you and should be able to help guide you.
You'll have to do the hard yards (or engage an agent) to lock in a tenant and agree a design before taking it out for finance (as per @UrbanPlanner). Or you might do a long term ground lease only with the operator and let them build as per @Beano.
A commercial leasing agent should be able to give some advice on the appetite for the area - you would struggle to find a tenant if there is already plenty in the area etc. It's also best to build to a client's needs rather than guess what they want. So it's a little circular but sort of 1. interview some commercial leasing agent and find one you like 2. get them to find you a tenant and they will say they want xx places and they tend to pay per child/place not per sqm (well it's the case in Perth) and they will let you know what requirements they have 3. do feasibility based on those numbers 4. lock them in with a lease that is subject to DA and construction times 5. apply for DA 6. use the lease to help get construction funding
oops started typing then got distracted and by the time I sent it @UrbanPlanner wrote what I was thinking
Better yet, you might contact a business broker who specialises in childcare centres. Probably closer to the target market than other agents.
