Day care chain looks to add eight locations between Pasco and Fort Myers

The Learning Experience, a chain of day care centers, plans to add eight locations across the region in the next two years.

The Deerfield Beach-chain plans a total of 20 new centers in Florida, each of which will be 10,000 square feet and include a 5,000-square-foot playground.

The local centers are planned for Zephyrhills, Lakeland, Lutz, Spring Hill, Land ‘O Lakes, Palmetto, North Port, Fort Myers and Estero.

The sites have all been chosen and are in varying stages of the permitting and building process, a spokesperson says.

According to a statement, when looking where to place a new center The Learning Experience’s real estate team looks at daytime population of the surrounding area; traffic patterns; population of children ages 6 and under in a 1-, 3- and 5-mile radius; and average household incomes within those same areas.

The company’s real estate development page on its website says that it’s built-to-suit requirements include freestanding outparcels with 40 parking spaces on 1-acre to 2-acre parcels. The lease term is 15 years plus options.

“Net lease real estate investors remain attracted to the early learning sector’s recession-resistant nature, high-quality real estate, long lease terms and escalating demand, and to the value of creditworthy large operators like The Learning Experience as tenants,” the chain says in the statement.

When opened, each center employs 30, including teachers, and have up to 180 students from 6 weeks of age to 6 years old.

The Learning Experience, according to its website, currently has more than 600 centers open or in development.

It operates both franchise- and corporate-owned location.