More Is Not Better
Understanding your market also means understanding who the operators are and what they want.
What number of children they ideally want. There’s no point designing and getting a planning permit for a childcare centre that has 200 places, as there are a few operators who will contemplate this number of children. On the other end of the scale, it’s unlikely that centres less than 60 or 70 places will be viable (some owner operators will operate at this level).
Construction costs are affecting the viability of smaller centres in the current climate. Understanding, what the majority of operators are looking for is vital in having a realistic expectation of a successful Childcare
development. Many operators have specialties in their offering, their style, or how they like to mix the numbers of children.
That said what is common is how most operators adhere to the staffing ratios as wages are generally one of the highest costs operators in delivering early learning education. Designing licensed spaces that work with that children/staffing ratios and spatial requirements is super important. That said designing everything to the bare minimum won’t win you any friends, particularly if operators have multiple choices of sites to lease or buy.
Developers should be looking at how they can offer a better centre and differentiate their building from the one down the road. If give the choice what would you choose, a centre with a few bells and whistles or one that is the minimum?
