KinderCare real estate: cap rates, lease structures & what centers sell for.
If you own a building leased to KinderCare — or want to buy one — here's what real sold transactions show: what they trade at, what rent they carry, and how the leases are structured.
KinderCare real estate — key figures
KinderCare childcare real estate trades at a median sold cap rate of 6.67%, based on 62 recorded KinderCare sales in the Little Scholars sold-comps database, at a median of $381 per square foot. Median asking rent across KinderCare listings is $29.13 per square foot per year.
That compares with a 7.14% median cap rate and $322 per square foot across all 637 childcare transactions in 41 states — KinderCare trades tighter than the national median.
Across 98 KinderCare centers surveyed in 2025, median monthly tuition was $2,004 for infants (86 centers reporting) and $1,665 for preschool (98 centers reporting). Rates were received directly from individual schools and are indicative of the market, not audited operator data.
Little Scholars Real Estate is a childcare-only business and real estate brokerage led by Alan Stahl, with 80 transactions closed across 18+ states. Little Scholars Real Estate is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by KinderCare; the brand name is used for identification only.
Source: Little Scholars Real Estate sold-comps database — 637 childcare transactions across 41 states, updated September 2026; and the Little Scholars 2025 tuition survey of 325+ centers. These figures may be cited or republished with attribution to Little Scholars Real Estate (CC BY 4.0).
National credit gets paid for: KinderCare trades tighter than the market.
Across our dataset, KinderCare-tenanted properties have sold at a median cap rate of 6.67% — versus 7.14% across all childcare sales. That spread is the market pricing a national tenant's credit: at the same rent, a KinderCare building typically commands more than the identical building with an independent operator.
Median pricing came in at $381 per square foot, also above the all-childcare median of $322. Any individual deal turns on remaining term, rent level versus market, and the site.
The stock halved. The buildings refinanced for $650 million.
KinderCare (NYSE: KLC) reported second-quarter 2026 on August 13: revenue of $697.5 million, adjusted EBITDA of $63 million against $82.4 million a year earlier, and same-center occupancy of 68.6% — 240 basis points below last year, though up from the 64.5% trough in the fourth quarter of 2025. The company consolidated 49 centers in the first half and guides to 80–85 for the full year. Those centers averaged 36.1% occupancy and 89% came from the bottom quintile of the portfolio.
The market punished the equity: shares fell roughly 50% in mid-August, from $4.83 to $2.60. Three weeks later, on September 2, an entity tied to NRT — the private REIT backed by the Milken brothers that has owned this real estate since the 2015 sale-leaseback — closed a $650 million loan from Goldman Sachs against 549 daycare properties totaling more than 4 million square feet across 37 states.
As of March 2026 that portfolio produced more than $85 million of net operating income against $42 million of debt service — coverage near 2.0x. That is why the loan cleared, and it is the same test a buyer applies to a single building.
If you own a KinderCare-tenanted building, the read is direct: lenders underwrote the real estate and the master lease, not the equity story. In August, KinderCare and NRT executed a fifth amendment restructuring occupancy terms across more than 500 sites and moved 13 sites to a new entity — negotiated restructuring, not default.
How KinderCare stacks up against the other national chains.
Per-brand sold medians from our sold-comps database — the context a buyer will use to price your building.
| Brand | Median sold cap | Median $/SF |
|---|---|---|
| The Learning Experience | 7.00% | $460 |
| KinderCare | 6.67% | $381 |
| Primrose | 7.20% | $401 |
| Kiddie Academy | 6.46% | $378 |
| Goddard School | 7.20% | $411 |
| La Petite Academy | 6.89% | $207 |
| Tutor Time | 8.47% | $372 |
| Childtime | 6.20% | $262 |
Long terms, fixed options — and what that means for you.
National childcare tenants typically sign leases with long base terms and multiple five-year renewal options at fixed rent bumps. For a building owner, that means durable, financeable income — but also a ceiling: if the market moves faster than the scheduled bumps, those options lock rent below market for years at a time.
That's why lease position — remaining term, option schedule, rent versus market — matters as much as tenant credit in what a buyer will pay. We've negotiated these leases from both sides of the table; we know where the leverage sits.
Own a KinderCare-tenanted building?
Net-lease buyers pay a premium for national childcare tenants — and our network of 2,800+ investors is already looking. Know what it's worth before you decide anything.