An entity linked to NRT, a private REIT previously known as National Realty Trust and backed by the billionaire Milken brothers, secured a $650 million loan from Goldman Sachs, according to Massachusetts mortgage records dated Sept. 2. The financing refinances a 2021 CMBS loan tied to 549 daycare properties totaling more than 4 million square feet across 37 states. The transaction matters because it signals continued lender appetite for childcare real estate at scale, even as the sector's largest operator, KinderCare, faces enrollment and earnings pressure. It also shows how a sale-leaseback structure created in 2015 continues to anchor a large, geographically diversified portfolio through multiple debt cycles.
The new loan will pay down the $642 million loan NRT took out in July 2021. That initial loan was originated by Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, according to Commercial Observer's reporting at the time. The CMBS loan carried a floating rate with a two-year term plus three one-year extension options. It matured last month, and the latest remittance data indicates the loan was paid off in full last month, according to Morningstar, confirming that the borrower secured a refinancing deal. As of March 2026, the portfolio's net operating income was more than $85 million, well above the property's debt service cost of $42 million, according to Morningstar Credit's CMBS loan database.
The portfolio's origins trace to 2015, when KinderCare entered into a sale-leaseback agreement with NRT. KinderCare signed a master lease for its properties after NRT sold the company, then known as Knowledge Universe Education, to Partners Group for $1.3 billion. Billionaire financier and philanthropist brothers Lowell and Michael Milken, along with Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, founded Knowledge Universe Education. As part of the sale, the Milken brothers held on to a significant portion of the real estate under NRT, according to Commercial Observer's 2021 report. Last month, KinderCare and NRT executed a fifth amendment to the master lease agreement that restructured occupancy terms for more than 500 child center sites. The agreement also transferred 13 sites to a newly formed entity known as KCP RE II LLC.
The refinancing lands at a delicate moment for the tenant. KinderCare's stock fell almost 50% in mid-August, from $4.83 to $2.60, following second-quarter results that shed light on continued enrollment decline and poor earnings. Despite that operator-level stress, the property-level income remains substantially above debt service, which likely supported the refinancing. The broader childcare real estate niche has attracted private equity interest as daycares fill underutilized retail space. The U.S. childcare market was valued at $65.2 billion as of 2025 and is projected to reach $109.9 billion by 2033, according to CNBC. KinderCare Education operates more than 2,700 early learning centers and programs across the country, making it a dominant tenant for this asset class.
The available evidence comes from a single Bisnow National article read in full, supplemented by data attributed to Morningstar Credit and prior Commercial Observer reporting. Several details remain unconfirmed: the new loan's interest rate, term, amortization schedule, and whether it is fixed or floating were not disclosed. Attorney Stan Maron, who represented NRT in the deal, did not respond to Bisnow's request for comment, and Goldman Sachs also did not respond. The Massachusetts mortgage records cited in the article were not independently reviewed. What to watch next is whether the master lease restructuring and the transfer of 13 sites to KCP RE II LLC alter the portfolio's income profile or tenant concentration risk, and whether KinderCare's enrollment trends improve enough to support the lease obligations over the new loan term.