Discovery Days Learning Centers 

85% Loan-to-Cost Funding - Purchase and Renovations

Kelle Jolliffe, with the help of her friends and family, continued a dream. Kelle wanted to start her own daycare center . . again. She had been working in the childcare industry since 1990, including running a daycare in Grandville Public Schools. She started with each elementary school in the district, but was ready to go out on her own, and run her own daycare center, apart from the public school system.

Kelle was able to grow the Grandville school daycare to over 200 children (from zero!), with another 200 on the waiting list. Parents urged Kelle to return to private daycare, and before opening, she had 83 letters of intent and 67 verbal commitments.

Her opportunity came when a locally owned restaurant decided to close their doors, and concentrate on their one remaining location. Kelle purchased the 11,000 square foot building that had a large banquet facility and using her creative touch, turned it into a daycare center.

As you can see from these pictures, the daycare has a very local touch. The bank “building” features her first mortgage lender, and the play area with the tools is named after the contractor that completed the renovations. The eating area is set up like a restaurant and the wall art makes even stopping to take a drink fun!

In conjunction with the bank, the Economic Development Foundation provided a very attractive 20-year fixed rate with the 504 financing for the purchase and renovation of the daycare center. Kelle only put down 15% of the total project cost as her equity (both cash and subordinate debt from her family), as this was considered a “start-up”.