Child Care Center Feasibility Study in Florida

Child care is one of the pillars of SBA lending in Florida. The state approved 964 loans to child care centers from FY2017 to FY2026, for $910.0 million, which ranks it 2 of 53 among states for the class. Inside Florida the class holds rank 3 of 39; a location quotient of 1.31x means centers carry more weight in Florida's SBA lending than in the nation's. The measure that sets this cell apart from both Florida's overall record and the class across the country, though, is the size of the typical loan.

Florida finances the building, not just the business

The median Florida child care loan is $622,000, or 1.38x the national median for centers, and the middle half spans $300,000 to $1.2 million. Those are real estate numbers, and the program mix confirms it: 253 loans went through SBA 504 alongside 711 under 7(a). The leading certified development companies are the largest lenders in the whole table. Florida First Capital Finance Corporation, Inc. carries 126 loans for $147.5 million and Florida Business Development Corporation 113 for $120.1 million, well ahead of the top 7(a) lender, TD Bank, National Association, at 57 loans for $23.1 million. Wells Fargo Bank National Association, American Momentum Bank, Gulf Coast Bank and Trust Company and Newtek Small Business Finance, LLC each hold 26. Franchise operators account for 16.3% of loans. Palm Beach (99), Miami-Dade (89), Hillsborough (88), Orange (80) and Broward (78) lead the counties, and approvals peaked at 135 in FY2025 for $137.8 million.

Low losses on large, collateralized loans

These loans have held up. Of 396 disbursed in FY2017 to FY2021, 2.0% have been charged off to date and 1.5% inside five years, below the Florida figure for all classes and in line with the class nationally. Both are floors and can still rise as the cohort ages. Cancellation after approval reached 12.1% for FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, or 13.8% once undisbursed loans are counted as cancelled, near the usual pattern. A lender reading this record sees a class where size has not brought risk, largely because a building stands behind many of the loans.

What a Florida child care study needs to show

With loans of this size, the study carries real weight. Demand work has to measure licensed capacity already open in the drive time against the families who need care, and show how much revenue would depend on public subsidy or prekindergarten funding rather than private tuition. Cost has to cover a purpose built center, outdoor play space and licensing requirements, and payroll at the staff ratios the license will require. Coverage should be modeled on a realistic enrollment ramp, since a new center rarely opens full. For a 504 project, the appraisal must value a special purpose building on comparable center sales and say what the property is worth if child care ends there.

One caveat on the class: the code that defines it also holds in-home and family child care, which cannot be separated from centers, so the loan record mixes a small number of home based providers in with the centers.