Stephanie and Lee Prosenjak are investing in the future of their Cherry Creek Dance studio with the $4.96 million purchase of a building at East Third Avenue and Clayton Street in Cherry Creek.
The couple, who have operated Cherry Creek Dance for 16 years, will open the 10,500-square-foot studio at 2625-2635 E. Third Ave. on Aug. 1. The move represents an expansion from its current 7,500-square-foot space at 3000 E. Third Ave.
The studio will expand from six dance rooms to nine, and the building will include a homework area, a play area, video monitors for parents to watch the classes and a dancers’ retail store at street level.
“We’re doing a lot of the construction ourselves, and a lot of the families are helping out,” said Stephanie Prosenjak. “Our students are so excited.”
The couple bought the building from Redwood Real Estate Partners, which had planned to build condos on top of the building.
Redwood also rezoned the property to increase the density for the site to 24,000 square feet, said Dan Bartell of Bartell & Co. Real Estate, who represented the Prosenjaks.
Today’s market conditions made financing virtually impossible to get, so Bartell put together a deal that enabled the seller to get the price it needed and the buyer to purchase the property.
“There was no financing available, so the seller had to carry the loan,” said Bartell, whose daughter Nina is a student at the studio. “It’s a very, very low down payment.”
Julie Bender, president and chief executive of the Cherry Creek North Business Improvement District, said the dance studio is a tremendous driver of foot traffic in the area.
“It’s not only the children and young adults; it brings the parents and grandparents and families,” said Bender, whose son Sam danced at the studio for about six years. “They’re a great traffic generator.”
Cherry Creek Dance has about 1,700 students and has seen a number of alumni go on to professional careers, such as Sierra Boggess, who starred as Ariel in the Broadway production of “The Little Mermaid,” and Vanessa Gallegos, who landed a spot in the Michael Jackson video “Remember the Time.”
The studio has another connection to the late King of Pop. Cherry Creek Dance will shoot for the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most people dance to the star’s “Thriller” down Third Avenue. The record is 274.
“We see more than that in one day,” Lee Prosenjak said. “We’ll get everybody out there.”
Margaret Jackson: 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com
