Child Care Center Feasibility Study in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro Area

The Atlanta record for child care businesses

Between FY2017 and FY2026, borrowers starting or acquiring child care centers in Atlanta took 404 loans and $533.4 million in gross dollars. Half of the approvals fall between $449,500 and $1.9 million. In rank terms, Atlanta is 4 of 493 across metro and micro areas, and child care centers take 3 of 39 among the area's own lending classes. In Atlanta the median loan is $973,700, 2.15x the class median nationwide. The location quotient, 1.92x, means child care centers form a larger share of loans in Atlanta against the national pattern.

Program mix and lenders for child care centers

Under 7(a), Harvest Small Business Finance, LLC tops the list in Atlanta with 37 loans and $34.0 million, trailed by Live Oak Banking Company with 17 and Bank of America, National Association at 15. For 504 financing, Capital Partners Certified Development Company (32 loans), next is Georgia Certified Development Corporation (15 loans). Of the 404 approvals, 327 are 7(a) loans and 77 are 504 loans, which tells us which SBA program child care businesses borrowers tend to use around Atlanta. 30.2% of the Atlanta approvals went to franchised businesses. The lender rows for day care centers in Atlanta reflect SBA's holder field: credit goes to the present holder, which says nothing about underwriting.

Place and timing for child care centers

Fulton County, GA holds the most loans at 73; Cobb County, GA follows with 71, and Gwinnett County, GA has 71. By year, by the file, FY2025 is the high mark for day care centers in Atlanta (58 loans, $76.6 million) and FY2023 the low (31 approvals, $41.4 million). FY2019 and FY2020 stay blank for child care businesses in Atlanta; Loan Analytics leaves out cells that rest on a handful of loans, and an empty year is not a count of nothing.

Floors and limits behind the Atlanta figures

Cancellation after approval reached 10.5% for Atlanta day care centers loans of FY2017 to FY2024; for the record, it is a lower bound, and the ceiling is withheld. No charge-off rate appears for Atlanta: too few child care center loans were funded from FY2017 to FY2021 to print a rate, and the blank says nothing about losses. Home-based providers are mixed in with centers for Atlanta, so a share of the Atlanta count might be home-based. The Atlanta count comes from counties: a day care loan enters through the county SBA records for it, matched by name to 2023 boundaries.

What a study of child care businesses in Atlanta has to test

Start with demand if child care businesses are being weighed for Atlanta: licensed capacity against enrollment, plus waiting lists and ages served. A record of 404 approvals is background, not evidence for a particular address. Costs to price include teacher hiring and pay and classroom and play space; the sum is then set beside Atlanta loans of $449,500 to $1.9 million, with $973,700 at the center. Whether SBA or a lender says yes lies outside any study; what an Atlanta study of child care centers can do is connect the project to the 404 approvals above. Debt service coverage must then hold through a slower opening than planned, since some Atlanta loans were cancelled and some were charged off. Last, the appraisal of an Atlanta site for child care businesses should address lease and license transfer, along with special-purpose space resale.