Feb. 19, 2024

Despite entertaining dozens of offers, Apple Tree Children’s Centers will be closing all but one location.

The last day will be March 1 for the centers at 3309 E. 26th St., 700 N. Sycamore Ave. and 4101 W. Valhalla Blvd.

Randy Stewart, who leads the Apple Tree nonprofit, had said the hope was to transition all locations to new operators by the end of the month.

Apple Tree West at 6400 W. 43rd St. will stay open. Business owner Pete Nelson is taking over the operation March 4.

At Apple Tree East, the director and many staff plan to transition to another east-side child care center.

Up to two dozen employees have become part of Kidz Academy, which has rebranded to Apple Blossom Academy. The child care center at 1600 S. Sycamore Ave. will be closed until March 4 for upgrades and to finalize a new curriculum, said Amy Stockberger, who has co-owned the business with family members since 2021.

Apple Blossom Academy has capacity for 125 kids from 4 weeks old through school-age, with 20 spots remaining for infants, toddlers and pre-K.

“We’re bolstering our curriculum and facility,” Stockberger said, adding that her center had been below its capacity for kids because of significant staffing issues.

“The hope is that by transitioning Apple Tree staff, it will offer another option for east-side families whose care was displaced by Apple Tree and allow many long-time and highly professional staff to continue to work together,” she said.

“We’ve been overwhelmed with the positive reinforcement we’ve received since announcing we’ll be adding leadership and staff from Apple Tree. Our 3-year-old and school-age care is full, so we encourage families to reach out soon if they’re interesting in our remaining openings.”

Apple Blossom Academy plans to hold an open house for new and existing families from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Feb. 24.

The three soon-to-be vacant Apple Tree buildings are listed for sale, with an option to lease, with Bender Commercial Real Estate Services.

The east-side and north-side locations are priced at $2 million each, while the south-side smaller location is listed at $1.1 million.

Furniture, fixtures and equipment are listed as negotiable.

“We could see these buildings being home to a variety of uses — the obvious being day care providers, who we have already had multiple inquiries from,” said Isaac Jorgensen of Bender, who has the buildings co-listed with Reggie Kuipers.

“The layouts also lend themselves well to a church or nonprofit user or even an office user with some updates. They are well maintained and in great locations, so we’re expecting there to be a lot interest from various end users.”