White Pelican Club, a private dining and drinking establishment that was announced with fanfare last June, appears to be back on track after a long delay caused by problems with city and county regulations.

The “Stop Work” notices that were posted on the club premises at Pelican Plaza on the barrier island have been taken down and renovation of the former location of Vinz wine bar and an adjacent storefront has resumed.

Rick Engel, a member of the ownership group and its current spokesman, said the startup hospitality venture is close to reaching its goal of an initial 100 founding members, who are paying a $2,000 initiation fee and $3,500 annual dues per couple or a $1,000 initiation fee and $2,500 annual dues per individual.

To push it over the top, the club is being promoted with a series of “pop-up” parties on the island, including one planned for this Sunday at the home of founding members Bill and Julia Olson in Indian River Shores.

“We’re expecting about 40 or 50 people,” Julia Olson said of the party. “It’ll be a very nice affair. The White Pelican chefs are catering the food. It’ll be a great occasion for some of the members who have already signed up and some prospective new members to meet each other and see what the club’s all about. There’s a lot of curiosity about it among the people here.”

“We believe in the community, and we believe that a facility like this one is very valuable from a social aspect,” Bill Olson said in an interview on his cellphone while fishing in the Indian River Lagoon over the weekend. “We live in a beautiful community, but the people are what make it special, and we learned from the Covid era how unbelievably boring life is when you can’t get together socially with people.

“We agreed to open our home because we’re proud of what we’ve done with our garden and backyard and don’t mind showing it off,” added Olson, who moved here full time from New Jersey six years ago but still works remotely as a cybersecurity expert. “They cater the affair and pick up the trash afterward. We felt bad for the other people who invested in this and then had to postpone the scheduled opening date several times. I want to support them.”

Other pop-up dinners and receptions are also planned as “intimate, invitation-only gatherings” to introduce White Pelican Club to the community.

The White Pelican Club group took over the lease at Pelican Plaza from Vinz in April 2025, acquiring the restaurant’s wine collection and leasing the storefront next door for a cigar bar to create a combined 1,500-square-foot indoor facility that spills out into outdoor covered patio space.

Renovation got underway quickly, but neighboring retail tenants upset by some of the construction activity blew the whistle on the project in late summer, triggering visits to the site by city and county inspectors.

Inspectors found that the project lacked required business permits from the City of Vero Beach and construction permits from Indian River County, resulting in the “Stop Work” orders that were posted last September.

The management group has since resolved all permitting issues with the city and the county, and investors have kept key staff on the payroll and stayed current on the lease payments.

“This is a long-term play,” said Engel, who moved to Vero Beach five years ago from Austin, Texas, where he had 30 years’ experience in the restaurant and hospitality business.

The club’s website says the establishment will “revive the golden age of social grace and refined indulgence.” It describes the club as a “tribute to timeless sophistication” where “every pour becomes a ritual, every conversation lingers and every evening unfolds as an experience woven with history.”

Engel said White Pelican Club will distinguish itself from other private clubs on the island.

“In contrast to traditional private clubs in the area, our focus is not built around scale, but around curation – placing equal emphasis on culinary integrity, atmosphere and the quality of the overall experience,” he said. “At the core of our culinary program is a commitment to sourcing the finest ingredients – fresh, natural and free from additives – paired with a respect for technique and seasonality.”

After the initial opening later this year, Engel said the club will continue to evolve by adding new features like curated wine storage, guest chef appearances and collaborative dinners, musical entertainment and philanthropic events.

Engel said that once the initial 100 founding memberships have been sold, “initiation fees and annual dues for our ongoing social membership will increase.” He did not specify how much the increase would be, but the founding membership group is scheduled to close at the end of April.

Engel said he could not give an exact date for the opening of the facility, in part because of last-minute changes and improvements to the design.