The Union League is expanding its reach at the Jersey Shore
The Union League has been adding suburban and Jersey Shore properties to its portfolio in recent years, along with enhancing its storied Center City headquarters.
Philadelphia’s Union League is extending its reach at the Jersey Shore.
The members-only club dates to the Civil War, with a headquarters on South Broad Street, but it began amassing a constellation of restaurants and private golf courses outside the city over a decade ago.
In an email sent Wednesday, the president of the club informed members of the Union League’s latest acquisition, a popular bar and restaurant in Cape May County.
“Last night, the board of directors unanimously approved an agreement to acquire the facility and surrounding land currently known as the Whitebrier in Avalon, New Jersey,” wrote Robert Cavalier, president of the Union League.
The 162-year-old Union League already has two nearby outposts. The Bungalow in Stone Harbor was the club’s first satellite location, opened in 2014 with seating for 32 members. The other New Jersey location is the Union League National Golf Club in Swainton.
The acquisition of the 200-seat Whitebrier will allow the Union League to greatly expand its Shore offerings at a time when remote work has allowed high-income professionals to spend more time away from the city. Home prices in the area have soared since 2020.
“The Bungalow has become a cherished destination, but its popularity and limited footprint have made summer dining a challenge,” Cavalier said in his email. “With more than 2,500 members owning residences within 30 minutes of Avalon, expanding our presence in this thriving community is an investment in the future of the League.”
A Union League spokesperson declined to comment further on the transaction. The Union League has a membership of over 3,500, and many are splitting time between this corner of South Jersey and the Philadelphia area.
The Whitebrier is part of a larger restaurant and nightlife group that was put on the market in 2023 by Anthony Zurawski and his family. These include the Union League’s recent purchase, along with the Princeton, the Circle Tavern, two liquor licenses, and a block of shorefront land along Dune and Ocean Drives.
Residents of Avalon have been eagerly awaiting the result, especially as many local restaurants have closed in recent years.
As home prices in Avalon and Stone Harbor have risen ever higher in recent years, many local businesses have sold their properties to residential developers.
“The price of properties have gotten so high that, for their small type of season, some of these regular restaurants … all went away because you can’t make a living in those couple months,” said John McCorristin, mayor of Avalon.
McCorristin worked at the Whitebrier in the 1970s, and while he is excited that the Union League will be moving in, the business will be available only to club members.
“We’ve lost so many restaurants, it would be nice if something could have gone in there that could have been attended by the general public,” McCorristin said. But the Union League’s “reputation is sterling, so I’m sure it will be a first-class operation.”
Since opening the Bungalow, the Union League has now acquired five other properties in suburban Philadelphia and down the Shore as well as expanding its historic headquarters on South Broad Street with a roof deck.
In his email Cavalier noted that the club would be closing on the property “in the coming months” and that only “some thoughtful cosmetic enhancements” would be required. The new location will be open to members this summer.