Northmarq’s Commercial Investment Sales team completes $30.26M sale of 9 early education center portfolio

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (April 3, 2025) — Northmarq’s Walnut Creek Commercial Investment Sales team, co-led by Milo Spector, successfully completed the $30.26 million sale of nine early education centers located across five states. The transaction highlights the continued investor demand for high-quality early education facilities in key markets nationwide.

The portfolio includes properties leased to Cadence Education — one of the nation’s leading early childhood educators, totaling over 81,000 sq. ft. — as well as BrightPath — a well-established provider of early education programs, totaling approximately 27,000 sq. ft.

Northmarq represented both the buyer and the seller in the transaction. The seller was a publicly traded REIT. The buyer was Fortec, a nationally recognized developer and investor in early childhood education projects based out of Miami, Florida.

“As an education-focused real estate broker, I am always excited to see an opportunity arise for an investor to acquire a portfolio. They do not come around often, and when they do, we always have investors ready and willing to make an offer,” said Spector, who leads a team specialized in education properties. “We are thrilled for both of our clients and feel honored to help both parties reach a mutually beneficial scenario. This transaction will allow the seller to redeploy the capital into other properties they are pursuing, while allowing the buyer to grow their already significant footprint in the early education space.”

Cadence Education operates over 300 private preschools and elementary schools across 30 states, serving more than 33,000 children with programs ranging from infancy through 12 years old.

BrightPath is owned by Busy Bees, which operates over 990 schools globally with 120 schools in North America and is backed by the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan.

Fortec is committed to revitalizing urban neighborhoods and fostering community growth by investing in early childhood education projects nationwide. With this transaction, the company has now developed over 300,000 square feet of early education facilities across 12 states, exceeding a cumulative transaction volume of $200 million.

This successful transaction underscores Northmarq’s expertise in the early childhood education real estate sector and its ability to deliver tailored investment solutions for buyers and sellers alike. In total, Northmarq has completed over $750 million in education property sales, of which Spector’s team represents more than $453 million.