Murphy PC represented a Goddard School franchisee in negotiating a long-term, build-to-suit ground lease for a new early-education and childcare facility in Massachusetts. The Goddard School is a national franchise network of early-childhood education and preschool centers serving children from six weeks through school age. Under the lease, the landlord will acquire the site and construct an approximately 12,502-square-foot building on roughly 2.41 acres, including grading and fencing for the children’s outdoor play area, with the tenant responsible for playground surfacing and equipment.
The firm advised the tenant across the full scope of the transaction, from the build-to-suit construction terms and delivery obligations through a fifteen-year initial term with three five-year renewal options. The engagement addressed several conditions typical of a ground-up childcare development, including contingencies tied to the landlord’s acquisition of title and to the zoning, development, and permitting approvals required to operate a licensed childcare center, each with defined outside dates protecting the tenant.
The firm also structured financing-related protections for the franchisee, including subordination of the landlord’s lien in the tenant’s business assets to accommodate the operator’s acquisition and start-up financing, and coordinated the franchisor’s collateral assignment and lease-assumption rights.
This matter reflects the firm’s focus on build-to-suit and development leasing for owner-operators and franchise businesses.
Murphy PC is a Boston-based law firm focusing on real estate and business transactions. The firm counsels developers, sponsors, owners, investors, lenders, tenants, nonprofits, and partnerships in joint ventures, project development, acquisitions and dispositions, financing, leasing, and construction across all property types.