This rendering shows what a proposed early child care center in the former Joann fabric and crafts store on Mack Avenue in Grosse Pointe Farms might look like.
By: K. Michelle Moran | Grosse Pointe Times | Published April 21, 2026
GROSSE POINTE FARMS — Families with very young children and expectant parents on the east side have reason to rejoice: It appears an early child care center will be coming to Grosse Pointe Farms after all.
After a proposal to convert the former Rite Aid store on Kercheval Avenue on the Hill met with opposition from business owners and city officials, developers with Eig14t Commercial Real Estate brought forward a new proposal to redevelop a different former retailer — the shuttered Joann fabric and craft store at 18850 Mack Ave. — into an early child care center. The proposal would bring the London-based N Family Club — also known as the N Family School — to the Pointes. The Farms City Council unanimously approved a preliminary site plan at a meeting April 13.
The proposal calls for transforming the 17,100-square-foot former retail space into 13 playrooms, administrative rooms and utility space. The developers also plan to lease a portion of the adjacent open space to the north of the building to create an enclosed 8,052-square-foot play area and garden.
The plan would create three handicapped-accessible parking spaces directly behind the building, and the developer would lease an additional 40 spaces from the city from an existing parking lot that’s used for the ballfields and dog park behind the public driveway along Moross Road.
“We are very, very excited about the decision and developing this new early childhood center in Grosse Pointe Farms,” Eig14t Development Manager Bradford Egan said following the council vote.
The developers said this site could accommodate about 208 children and 36 educators and support staff. The center would operate Monday through Friday; hours are likely to be 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., although those need to be finalized.
“There is a demonstrated need for early childhood care,” City Manager Shane Reeside said after the meeting. “Obviously, the site on the Hill had concerns (about the) impact on the business district in terms of (child care center) pickup and drop off. … (The Joann site) lends itself better for drop off and pickup.”
In addition, parking is more plentiful.
As the developers explained to the council in January, the N Family School “is a UK-based, high-end nursery group founded in 2017, focusing on holistic early years education for children aged 0 to 5, emphasizing experiential, play-based learning, strong family involvement and preparing kids for school using unique methods like ‘The N Approach,’ blending academic readiness with social-emotional skills in supportive, beautifully designed environments.”
In January, Eig14t CEO Reed Fenton said the food served is organic and made from scratch, and they stress natural and simple play. Eig14t has offices in Chicago and Berkley.
“They are the highest-end provider in London,” Fenton said.
Trudy Anderson, managing director of the N Family School in the United States, said the school hopes to open facilities in Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois as it makes its way into the American market. She said April 13 that the school is also looking at sites in Northville, Novi, Plymouth, Birmingham, Royal Oak and Ann Arbor.
“I love the concept,” City Councilman Joe Ricci said. “I love the (N Family School) culture. I love your philosophy. … I love the location. I can’t wait for you to start.”
Anderson said they didn’t have pricing yet for the Michigan sites, noting that they need to look at the existing market before determining those figures. She noted that the school is known for its strong employee retention in a field where that’s not common, and their pay is “above market” because they “want the best.”
“When you have a stable team, you have really happy children and families,” Anderson said. “Do the right thing and provide quality, and the profits will come.”
Developers have noted that because of industry regulations, early child care centers aren’t the most highly profitable businesses.
“The people that care for our children are typically underpaid and undervalued,” City Councilman Neil Sroka said. “Not only is this going to be a great facility for Grosse Pointe Farms, but it will be a great employer.”
Egan said they, as the developers, would be buying the property from the city and leasing it to N Family School. At press time, he said they were still working on a purchase price agreement with the city.
The lease between the developers and the school was slated to be for 20 years.
“I agree that there’s a need,” Mayor John Gillooly told the developers. “I think this is going to help a lot. We are willing to work with you. We will expedite the process” as much as possible.
Circa October 2025, the Farms agreed to purchase the store — which closed that spring — for $2.4 million, to be paid out in three equal, interest-free installments of $800,000 over the next three fiscal years. Money for this expenditure came from the city’s capital project fund.
As part of its agreement with the seller, if the Farms sold the Joann site in the next five years, the city agreed to give half of any sale proceeds in excess of $2.4 million to the seller, while the city would retain the other half of those profits.
The Joann parcel — along with the rest of the parcels on the corner — were rezoned from commercial to community service many years ago, as the city anticipated future public uses for the prominent gateway to the Farms.
City Attorney William Burgess said final site plan approval requires conditional use approval — including what would happen if the early child care center doesn’t stay in operation for the full 20 years of the lease.
While a date for final site plan approval hadn’t been established at press time, Egan said it could be as soon as the council’s next meeting May 11.