Unity clears way for dance studio formerly run by 'Dance Moms' star to move to Crabtree
Unity supervisors have granted a conditional use for the former Carbone’s Restaurant, clearing the way for the building’s owner — DeFabo Properties — to lease a portion of the building as a dance studio.
Appolonia Leake, a graduate of Greensburg Salem High School and Saint Vincent College, is looking to move her dance studio to Crabtree from a smaller site in Penn Hills, formerly run by “Dance Moms” reality star Abby Lee Miller.
Leake, who trained briefly under Miller, has been dancing most of her life and performed in Germany as a soloist U.S. Olympics competitor.
Lou Demosky, Leake’s mother and business manager for the studio, said the move closer to their Greensburg home will more than double the available space.
“We’re going from one large studio and two small ones to two medium studios and one very large studio that breaks down into three if we need it,” Demosky said. “We’re very excited. We plan on going forward with our renovations.”
She said a mid-July open house is planned for the renamed Apple’s Dance Lab, which is set to occupy 6,000 square feet of the roughly 15,500-square-foot building.
According to Jerome DeFabo, the rest of the building will continue to be used for catering and as a warehouse supporting the neighboring Rizzo’s Malabar Inn restaurant. Carbone’s closed last summer.
Jeff Himler is a TribLive reporter covering Greater Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant Area and Derry Area school districts and their communities. He also reports on transportation issues. A journalist for more than three decades, he enjoys delving into local history. He can be reached at jhimler@triblive.com.
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