Wall Street Journal
NY CULTURE Updated July 10, 2013, 9:01 p.m. ET

New Arts Venues are Planned in Jersey City
Developers Set Sights on New Multipurpose Theaters

By JENNIFER WEISS
As anyone who lives there will tell you, property values and rents have soared in much of Jersey City as new residents have come in droves. But the arts scene in New Jersey's second-largest city has not kept pace when it comes to public entertainment venues. While the historic Loews Jersey Theatre shows movies and hosts a smattering of events, most of the city's theater and live music is still confined to restaurants, bars and borrowed spaces.

That could soon change. A developer and his partner have set their sights on an old theater on the western edge of Jersey City's downtown and are planning an arts venue that will present a dynamic mix of theater, music and family-friendly fare that they liken to the programming at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

The plans come at a time when the area is mourning the imminent loss of a beloved nearby venue: Maxwell's, the legendary club in Hoboken, which is set to close July 31 after 35 years of luring local music lovers?including many New Yorkers?to a town one-fifth the size of Jersey City.

The White Eagle Hall, a century-old building on Newark Avenue that has fallen into disrepair, is under an extensive renovation with an opening eyed for spring 2014. Owner Ben LoPiccolo and his partner, Olga Levina, have unveiled plans for a multipurpose theater, arts and music venue that could accommodate about 400 people sitting and 800 standing in its main hall, which includes a balcony. On the ground floor, two restaurants that would also host live music are planned.

The smaller restaurant would be opened by the owners of Madame Claude Cafe, a beloved French spot a block away that hosts co-owner Mattias Gustafsson's four-piece band, Manouche Bag, on Thursday nights. Plans for the larger space have not yet been announced.

Mr. LoPiccolo confirmed that he has had discussions with Todd Abramson, the co-owner and booker of Maxwell's, about a new collaboration. Mr. Abramson, who also books acts at the Bell House in Brooklyn and occasionally at the Landmark Loews Jersey Theatre, has pointed to Jersey City as a possible location for a new project. He indicated that White Eagle Hall was an option but said he's been looking at other sites in Jersey City as well, many "unsuitable."

"I've had a few conversations with Ben," Mr. Abramson said of Mr. LoPiccolo. "My sense is that there would be much more support for what I do in Jersey City from both residents and the city itself than I'm finding in Hoboken right now."

The region's music scene stands to take a huge hit when Maxwell's closes. But Mr. Abramson sees Jersey City as the Brooklyn to Hoboken's Manhattan, in a sense?a place with a more varied and artsy population, where many of Maxwell's 20-something regulars went when they fled Hoboken for cheaper housing.

"I understand that the closing of Maxwell's creates a void in New Jersey and I'd like to be the person to turn around and fill that void," he said.

While Jersey City has faced some of the same growing pains as its smaller neighbor?including parking issues, which Mr. Abramson said were instrumental in his decision to close Maxwell's?excitement for new development percolated in the months leading up to the election of Steven Fulop, the new, 36-year-old mayor.

Two other theaters could eventually come to the city's downtown, where much of the new development has been concentrated. A 550-seat theater is planned as part of Toll Brothers' Provost Square residential and retail development in the Powerhouse Arts District, and developer SILVERMAN has a redevelopment plan for a lot nearby at Grove and Morgan streets and Marin Boulevard that includes provisions for a community theater.

Over on Newark Avenue, the heart of a restaurant row that Mr. Fulop pushed for when he was a councilman for the ward, "there's a lot of bars and restaurants that attract a similar clientele to Maxwell's," Mr. Abramson said. New York-based businesses now in the neighborhood include Barcade and Two Boots Pizza; Thirty Acres, opened by a former chef from the Momofuku Noodle Bar and his wife; and Greenpoint's Word Bookstore, which is planning a new location a stone's throw from the Grove Street PATH Plaza.

There is some distance between the White Eagle Hall and the buzzy end of Newark Avenue near the PATH. The yellow-brick building with an eagle on the facade sits in a less-developed part of the neighborhood, though new businesses have opened in recent years, and a new luxury apartment building, 340 Third Street, has gone up. The hall is in the midst of a major renovation that Mr. LoPiccolo estimates will cost in excess of $3 million. But even as rain dribbled through the ceiling and spilled down a wall on a recent day, the glamour of the space was unmistakable. Vintage details remain, such as two stained-glass skylights in the main hall decorated with the silhouettes of a man and a woman.

Mr. LoPiccolo has committed to preserving the building's historical details and charm even as he adds modern necessities such as soundproofing. "It's going to be a destination yet again," said John Gomez, a local historian and teacher. "This is what I live for in preservation, buildings being renovated and reused and not just sitting there abandoned."

The White Eagle Hall was a social hall for St. Anthony of Padua, a parish that formed to serve the area's Polish community. It has hosted wrestling matches, political events and bingo. For many years, it was a practice hall for the St. Anthony's Friars, the nationally recognized basketball program run by famed coach Bob Hurley.

"He said, 'This place spoke to me,'" recalled Ms. Levina, who has two children with Mr. LoPiccolo. The family lives in Short Hills. "He said, 'I know it's expensive, but we have to turn this into a theater.'"

Mr. LoPiccolo said the building first caught his eye seven or eight years ago. At the time, it was priced above $2 million?workable for a tear-down and condo development, he said, but not a theater.

"I said to her, 'I can't knock it down, I'm not going to touch it but it would be great if it would be a real venue for downtown,' so I walked away," he said.

When he returned, the price had dropped significantly, and he purchased the theater last year for $1.1 million.

He and Ms. Levina see the need for an arts venue downtown, where he has been building housing for years and where Ms. Levina helms the Jersey City Theater Center, founded by the couple in 2006. She said she envisions an ambitious roster of national and international programming, and has reached out to some of the city's many local arts groups as well. The couple is also working with an arts and culture consultant.

Mr. LoPiccolo described the programming planned for the theater as "a little bit of everything," but with a feel more like BAM than its suburban New Jersey neighbors. "Fashion, modern dance?so many things can happen here," he said.

In the absence of a dedicated music venue in Jersey City, bands have been playing a patchwork of outdoor festivals and bars, restaurants, and arts venues. Bigger-ticket acts such as Beck, Yo La Tengo and Bright Eyes have filled the Landmark Loews Jersey Theatre in Journal Square?booked by Mr. Abramson?but live music there has been on hold while the historic theater invests in new stage lighting and sound equipment.

Last year, the city retooled its entertainment ordinance, making it easier for restaurants in certain districts to host live music. Local event promoter Anthony "Dancing Tony" Susco said two or three new places could be booking bands by next year. That comes as excellent news for music lovers who have been relying on Maxwell's?which holds only about 200 people?for decades.

"I'm hopeful about it," said Donovan Cain, who plays bass with the Jersey City band the Milwaukees, of the White Eagle Hall. "Regardless, I would like to see a venue in Jersey City, period."

A version of this article appeared July 10, 2013, on page A17 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: As Jersey City Grows, the Arts Bloom.

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