The basics:

• HBSE will not renew White Eagle Hall lease after Sept. 21
• Company will focus on operating Loew’s Jersey Theatre this fall
• Jersey City Theater Center will help lead White Eagle Hall’s next chapter
• Venue will expand arts programming, private events, community uses

Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment will not renew its lease at White Eagle Hall when it expires Sept. 21, opting instead to focus on the reopening of Loew’s Jersey Theatre this fall, according to HBSE.

The move ends the company’s five-year run operating the historic Jersey City performance venue.

HBSE said it will continue operating White Eagle Hall through the expiration of its lease and emphasized its commitment to Jersey City’s live entertainment scene.

“HBSE will not be renewing its lease at White Eagle Hall when it expires in September. We want to thank the White Eagle Hall staff, as well as the crews, artists, and performers who’ve made our time at the venue memorable. Although our run at White Eagle Hall is coming to an end, our commitment to the future of Jersey City’s music, arts, and community scenes remains unchanged.

“We look forward to the highly anticipated reopening of Loew’s Jersey Theatre, which returns this fall following an extensive restoration process. HBSE will play an integral role in attracting great acts to Loew’s Theatre, further amplifying Jersey City’s rich arts and live entertainment landscape,” HBSE told NJBIZ in a statement.

Shifting focus

Loew’s Jersey Theatre is nearing completion of a multiyear restoration that will return the landmark venue to active use as a year-round entertainment destination. HBSE, which also manages Newark’s Prudential Center, will oversee programming and operations at the theater when it reopens later this fall.

People familiar with the decision said the White Eagle Hall move was driven by timing rather than any dispute between the two sides.

With Loew’s Jersey Theatre preparing to open as HBSE’s lease at White Eagle Hall expires, the company opted to concentrate its local live entertainment operations around Loew’s rather than continue managing both properties. HBSE also noted White Eagle Hall employees were informed months ago that a lease renewal was a possibility rather than a certainty.

HBSE said staff members will have opportunities to interview for positions at Loew’s Jersey Theatre.

A local landmark

The company assumed management, booking and day-to-day operations of White Eagle Hall in 2021, when the venue’s owners tapped the HBSE’s Prudential Center entertainment division to expand programming and leverage its relationships across the live entertainment industry. During its tenure, White Eagle Hall hosted performances by artists including Jack White, The Gaslight Anthem, Yo La Tengo, 5 Seconds of Summer, The Front Bottoms, Spoon, Angel Olsen, Ramy Youssef, Sarah Sherman, The Mountain Goats and Impractical Jokers, among many others.

Built in 1910, White Eagle Hall has long been one of Jersey City’s best-known community landmarks.

The building served generations of neighborhood gatherings and church-related events before becoming the practice home of the legendary St. Anthony High School basketball program under Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley. Following an extensive restoration by BLDG-UP, the venue reopened in 2017 as a modern concert and events space while preserving many of its historic architectural features.

White Eagle Hall’s next act

Following HBSE’s departure, owner Historic White Eagle Hall LLC said the venue will continue operating under a new model led by Jersey City Theater Center. JCTC has presented programming at White Eagle Hall since its reopening.

The nonprofit plans to broaden the venue’s offerings with a more diverse mix of performing arts programming while expanding private events such as weddings, corporate functions and community gatherings. The building will also undergo light refurbishments and operational enhancements before the transition.

Historic White Eagle Hall LLC said it is also exploring opportunities with experienced private event professionals to grow the venue’s year-round offerings while preserving White Eagle Hall’s identity as one of the region’s premier cultural destinations.

“White Eagle Hall has become an important gathering place where artists, audiences, and the community come together through creativity and culture,” Olga Levina, executive producer of Jersey City Theater Center, said in a statement. “JCTC is proud to continue presenting programming at the venue and looks forward to collaborating on its next chapter while ensuring that artists and the arts remain at the heart of White Eagle Hall.”

When we restored White Eagle Hall, our vision was never simply to renovate a historic building — it was to create a lasting civic asset for Jersey City and the NJ/NYC metro region.
—Ben LoPiccolo, representative for Historic White Eagle Hall LLC, CEO and partner at BLDG-UP

Ben LoPiccolo, a representative of Historic White Eagle Hall LLC and CEO and partner of BLDG-UP, said the transition marks the continuation of the mission established when the historic building was restored nearly a decade ago.

“[O]ur vision was never simply to renovate a historic building — it was to create a lasting civic asset for Jersey City and the NJ/NYC metro region,” LoPiccolo said in a statement. “That vision remains the same.

“This next chapter is about broadening access, expanding programming, strengthening community partnerships and ensuring White Eagle Hall continues to thrive for generations to come.”

Continuing to grow with Jersey City

In an interview with NJBIZ, LoPiccolo described HBSE’s tenure as positive and said the ownership group views the transition as a natural evolution rather than a break from the venue’s long-term mission.

“This transition is really about building on not just what HBSE came in and did for the past five years, but also what went on before they came in,” LoPiccolo told NJBIZ. “This has been almost 10 years of building on this vision, and now this is just the next chapter to make it even better.”

“We’re asset managers and developers, so we’re used to this,” he said. “We look at this as, if you have a 20-unit building, one tenant leaves and another tenant comes in. The idea is to keep the vision the same or make it even better.”

Looking ahead, LoPiccolo said White Eagle Hall will continue evolving alongside Jersey City’s growth while maintaining its role as a cultural destination.

“We’re very excited,” he said. “We look at this asset as something that’s consistently evolving, and the beautiful thing about it is that it evolves with Jersey City. Jersey City is very dynamic. It’s changing rapidly. It’s growing fast — from the people who are moving in to the politics that are changing.

“This venue is a reflection of that. So, as this place is evolving, we’re excited to see how it evolves with it.”