Fullerton / North Orange County
Two patterns show up in Fullerton. Licensed child care clusters on East Chapman Avenue, where CDSS lists five centers between 321 and 2311 E. Chapman (Fullerton College's lab school, Andrews Head Start, Acacia Montessori, Ivycrest Montessori and St. Stephen's Lutheran), and on north Harbor Boulevard and Associated Road. Tutoring clusters at Amerige Heights on West Malvern Avenue, where Mathnasium is on Regency's directory for Amerige Heights Town Center and C2 Education is at 1995 W. Malvern. CDSS returns 35 licensed child care center records for the city, many on school district and church sites.
Population
140,968
Median HHI
$104,286
Median age
36.9
Homeownership
51.8%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.
Primary retail corridors
Harbor Boulevard · Commonwealth Avenue · Chapman Avenue · Malvern Avenue · Imperial Highway
Specific shopping centers in Fullerton that already carry credible co-tenancy for this use. Listed in approximate order of fit.
1889–2291 W. Malvern Avenue
Anchors / key tenants: Target, Albertsons, Ross, Barnes & Noble
Regency Centers-owned retail core of the 293-acre Amerige Heights master-planned community (1,365 homes). Mix includes Bath & Body Works, Islands Fine Burgers & Drinks, Menchie's, Starbucks, McDonald's. The strongest national co-tenancy in Fullerton.
Existing operators are the most honest comp for whether a use can support Fullerton rents. These are publicly visible daycare and education space businesses currently trading in the market.
Mathnasium
Amerige Heights Town Center, 1889-2291 W. Malvern Avenue, Suite R03, Fullerton, CA
Listed on Regency Centers' tenant directory in a 1,200 sq ft suite (R03) in the same suite row as Starbucks (R01) and Jamba (R02). A clean size reference for a tutoring use in the city's strongest grocery anchored center.
C2 Education of Fullerton
1995 W. Malvern Avenue, Suite 2B-1, Fullerton, CA 92833
C2's own page describes the center as inside Town Center Plaza in Amerige Heights. It does not appear on Regency's directory for its part of the center, so it is likely in a separately owned building in the same address range.
North Fullerton KinderCare
3223 Associated Road, Fullerton, CA 92835
Licensed day care center, preschool capacity 82 per CDSS, 6:30am to 6:30pm. KinderCare's page lists the center as serving 6 weeks to 12 years.
Stepping Stones
3320 N. Harbor Boulevard, Fullerton, CA 92835
Licensed day care center, capacity 201, ages 2 to 6 per CDSS. One of the largest private licenses in the city, on north Harbor Boulevard.
Ivycrest Montessori Private School
2025 E. Chapman Avenue, Fullerton, CA 92831
Licensed day care center, capacity 214 (178 preschool plus 36 toddler option) per CDSS. Part of the East Chapman Avenue cluster.
Acacia Montessori School
1701 E. Chapman Avenue, Fullerton, CA 92831
Licensed day care center, capacity 46 in three classrooms, license effective February 2021. A recent, small license on the same corridor.
Fullerton Children's Academy
3516 W. Commonwealth Avenue, Fullerton, CA 92833
Licensed day care center, capacity 62, with waivers on the CDSS record for a toddler option, school age children and a shared yard. On west Commonwealth Avenue.
01
Fullerton Municipal Code 15.30.030.2 lists a child care center in the G-C zone as a conditional use permit use, subject to 15.55.030.E. In the O-P zone (15.30.030.1) it is also a CUP. The use lists for C-3 (15.30.030.3) and C-M (15.30.030.4) do not include child care centers at all, so a site zoned C-3 or C-M needs a conversation with planning before anything else.
02
Tutoring Center and Studio are permitted by right in G-C, C-3 and C-M, and Tutoring Center is also permitted by right in O-P. That makes a Kumon or Mathnasium style use a much faster deal than child care. A 'School, private' is a CUP in every commercial zone under 15.55.030.D, so make sure your program is classed as tutoring and not a private school.
03
FMC 15.55.030.E sets the child care standards: off-street loading with on-site circulation so children can be dropped off safely, one parking space per worker on duty plus one guest space per 16 children, and a solid six-foot masonry wall where an outdoor play area adjoins residentially zoned property. For an 82 child center like the Associated Road KinderCare that is 6 guest spaces plus staff parking.
04
Amerige Heights Town Center is the proven tutoring location, with Mathnasium in 1,200 sq ft on Regency's directory. Regency's page showed one suite marked available soon (1,900 sq ft) when checked on 2026-09-18, so ask Regency about current availability and any exclusive held by Mathnasium before proposing another math or tutoring concept there.
05
State licensing sets the footprint: 35 sq ft of indoor activity space per child (22 CCR 101238.3) and 75 sq ft of outdoor space per child inside a fence at least 4 feet high (22 CCR 101238.2). A 46 child license like Acacia Montessori works out to 1,610 sq ft of countable indoor space and 3,450 sq ft outdoors. CDSS records for Fullerton Children's Academy show a shared yard waiver, so yard arrangements are negotiable with licensing but need to be raised early.
06
A fire clearance is required for every child care center (22 CCR 101171). Have the city's fire prevention staff review the suite's exiting during the LOI stage.
Zoning, licensing, and demographic figures on this page come from the public records below. Codes and licenses change, so confirm with the city and the licensing agency before you sign.