SBA 504 Child Care Center Feasibility Study in Nebraska

First in Nebraska, with Douglas County in front

Child care centers rank first among Nebraska asset types for SBA 504, a standing of 1 of 39, and Douglas County accounts for 21 of the 29 loans approved from FY2017 to FY2026. Only three counties are listed, with Lancaster at 5 and Sarpy at 3. The cell totals $26.4 million. On the national count Nebraska holds 19 for this class under 504; franchises appear in 6.9% of the loans.

A building loan near the national median

The median loan of $749,000 comes to 0.99x, almost the same as child care borrowers elsewhere under 504, and the central half spans $567,000 to $1.3 million, a tight band that fits purpose-built centers. Under 504 the project is usually a building rather than a leasehold fit-out. Annual approvals ran from 1 in FY2018 to 7 in FY2020, with 6 loans and $6.0 million in FY2022 the largest year, and 1 in FY2026.

The code and the missing rates

The industry code behind this cell also covers in-home child care, so a family home looks the same as a center here. Both cancellation and charge-off are left out, as the early cohorts hold fewer than 30 funded loans and Loan Analytics prints no rate under that count, a rule of its own making, and neither should be read as zero. No lender table prints here.

What a Nebraska center study has to test

A purpose-built center is a real estate bet and an operating bet at once. The study should present the licensed capacity, the room layout needed for each age group, outdoor play space requirements and the cost per child of the building, then test enrollment: working households in the catchment, competing seats, waiting lists and what employers or subsidy programs will pay. Staffing ratios by age set payroll, and the study should show the wage level needed to hire in Nebraska markets. A realistic enrollment ramp is critical, because a new center may take many months to fill while construction debt is repaid. With a $749,000 median a typical project is a substantial building, so the study should test whether the parcel, zoning and traffic pattern work for drop-off and pick-up. The appraisal of a child care building leans on income, and the study should also show what a different operator could pay, since the use is specialized.