Playbook for Regions
Playbook for Regions

BRIEF:

Repurposing Underutilized Space for Child Care

BriefRepurposing means finding hidden capacity – space that exists but isn’t being used to its full potential – and converting it for child care.
It is flexible and reactive to an existing need.

Examples:

  • Empty classrooms in a K-12 school newly licensed for infants or preschoolers
  • A storefront that used to be a boutique, renovated for child care
  • An employer’s unused conference room converted to on-site care
  • A licensed program with classrooms closed due to staffing, helped to reopen

Consider this approach if you have commercial vacancies, employers with acute child care needs ready to partner, and/or local interest to be creative with existing space.

START HERE
  • Identify regional priorities for child care spaces. What types of spaces are needed to meet community needs? What would make an ideal child care space?
  • Review potential real estate availability through Virginia Economic Department Partnership’s site selection tool, a local Realtor, a “windshield survey,” or local organizations like school divisions or local governments. See VEDP Site Selection tool in Learn More.
  • Connect with existing providers to understand partnership opportunities. Tap into their expertise on repurposing spaces.
  • Start conversations with property owners such as religious institutions, employers, local governments, and school divisions.
Key Action

KEY ACTION

Repurpose Before You Build

Repurposing existing spaces saves time and money while revitalizing communities. Virginia stakeholders report pursuing donated church space, favorable lease arrangements, and federal surplus properties available via 100-year ground leases at $1.

Consider how creative partnerships might outperform new construction. See Teton County and real estate inventories (GSA, Virginia Department of General Services, VEDP) in Learn More.

Repurposing transforms underused spaces into child care facilities, expanding supply quickly. Repurposed sites can be small, serving 6-40 children, or larger commercial child care centers. The biggest barrier for providers in expanding supply is the high cost of real estate and utilities. After staffing, which is typically 60–80% of program costs (see Child Care Dollar in Learn More), real estate is the largest expense for most providers. Reducing start-up facility costs and ongoing expenses in co-located settings with shared services strengthens provider sustainability and frees up resources for wages and benefits, improving quality and stability for families and educators.

Repurposing underused spaces supports community revitalization by strengthening the workforce and creating jobs. Communities across Virginia and the country are proving that new solutions are possible. Repurposing space requires coordinating zoning, permitting, building codes, and licensing – systems that often operate independently but can be aligned with the right partners. This is an iterative process: each project reveals lessons that strengthen the path for the next. For zoning and permitting strategies that support these efforts, see Topic Brief Child Care Friendly Regulations (Sec. 2, II.).

To unlock these benefits, communities need a systematic approach to identifying and repurposing spaces.

Assess Community Priorities

Working with a regional team, identify priorities for child care spaces that are responsive to community needs. You might ask:

  • What are ideal locations based on where families live and work?
  • What age groups do we want to be able to serve?
  • Do we need to start a new program or help an existing program to expand?
  • What hours of care will families need?
  • Is there a particular model of program that we want to support?
  • What community needs do we hope a new child care space will address?

With the answers to these questions, create a rubric for evaluating spaces based on items such as location, available floor and outdoor space, renovation costs, and partnership opportunities. Once potential spaces have been identified, evaluate them using the identified criteria to narrow the list and focus on properties that are most promising. For examples, see Space Identification Tools in Learn More.

Explore Partnership Models
  • Community benefit: Owners or developers donate or discount space as part of a community benefit agreement.
  • Employer-sponsorship: Employers provide space for employee child care and may qualify for the IRC §45F tax credit. See the Virginia Employer Child Care Toolkit in Learn More.
  • Historic preservation: Preservation incentives and mission alignment can lead to favorable lease terms as well as access to unique funding sources.
  • Publicly-owned property: Local, state, and federal government entities may have property that can be used for community use or leased at a nominal rate.
  • Religious institutions: Congregations are often mission-aligned and may offer space, governance support, and community backing.
  • Housing developments: Developers may include child care in affordable housing; co-location can strengthen funding applications. See Topic Brief Child Care Facility Co-Location (Sec. 4, I.) for more information.
  • Micro-center networks (emerging model): A micro-center hub is an emerging practice for repurposing larger spaces. A hub provides administration for multiple small programs (~30 children or fewer), reducing overhead and supporting streamlined administration. See Chambliss and Indiana in
    Learn More for examples.

Securing commitments, especially at low or no cost, requires strong relationships and demonstration of how child care serves the property owners’ goals. While motivated and knowledgeable, child care providers often lack time and capacity to evaluate properties, build relationships with landlords, and negotiate favorable terms. Regions can help support providers’ capacity to connect with property owners and close deals.

Identify Available Properties

Spaces that are already serving children and families can be a good option because they are often designed for children with mission-aligned owners and existing resources for transition to licensed space. Examples may include school buildings, religious institutions, libraries, or after-school programs.

Assess areas where families live, work, or commute and identify which lack child care. These are ideal locations for repurposing efforts. Search for real estate opportunities in these areas. This can also include communicating with employers about on- or near-site child care.

Engage with organizations that serve the public such as community centers, affordable housing, and local governments to identify what properties they may have available. These types of organizations often have available real estate and an interest in child care’s public benefit, creating the opportunity for low-cost spaces.

Potential Sources For Identifying Property Options
★ Potential state-level action: Collaborate with Planning District Commissions and VBREE state level partners to gather and maintain property availability information.
Navigate Regulations

Once the most promising spaces have been identified, work with planning, zoning, licensing, building, and fire officials to understand the feasibility and cost of repurposing these spaces for child care. This narrows the list and helps to avoid any unwelcome (and expensive) surprises later on in the process.

Just as with a new build, repurposing space for child care requires coordination with planning, zoning, building, and licensing officials. Key success factors include:
  • Data-driven site selection. Identifying in advance what qualities of a space will best support community child care needs creates smoother implementation and long-term sustainability.
  • Low- or no-cost space access. Low- or no-cost space can shift provider sustainability. Providers redirect rent or mortgage dollars into wages and program quality. Across Virginia, reducing facility costs is identified by stakeholders as one of the most impactful sustainability strategies for child care businesses.
  • Strong partnerships with property owners. Property owners supportive of child care’s mission and public good create sustainable, long-term lease agreements.
  • Opportunities for cost-sharing. Repurposed facilities can benefit from shared services with other tenants, such as building maintenance, supply purchasing, and administration.
  • Regulatory coordination. Repurposing spaces can create regulatory complexity. Support for navigation can help to make projects financially viable. See Topic Brief Child Care Friendly Regulations (Sec. 2, II.) in Learn More for more on improving the regulatory environment for child care.

There are many spaces in communities that are well-suited for child care. Identifying and repurposing them helps to revitalize communities and open new doors for providers to lower-cost real estate.

Virginia Examples
Out-of-State Models
Space Identification Tools
Employer Tools

  • IRC §45F: Employer-Provided Child Care Credit. 25% of facility expenditures + 10% of referral expenditures (up to $150k), applicable to acquisition, renovation, and operations. Supports consortium models.

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