Jersey City has more kinds of housing than almost anywhere in New Jersey, and the right renovation plan depends on what you live in. We work across Downtown, Paulus Hook, Hamilton Park, the Heights, Journal Square, Greenville, the West Side and the waterfront, and we price each job around the building as well as the room.
Jersey City neighborhoods we work in
Every part of Jersey City has its own housing stock, and that changes how a job is planned, permitted and staged.
Downtown
Brownstones, brick rowhouses and converted condos around Hamilton Park, Van Vorst Park and Harsimus Cove. Expect plaster walls, older wiring and plumbing behind them, and condo boards with alteration agreements and insurance requirements.
Paulus Hook
A small, historic waterfront neighborhood of rowhouses and newer condo towers. Rowhouse work means tight access and party walls shared with neighbors; tower work means building rules, elevator bookings and set work hours.
The Heights
Frame two- and three-family houses and older walk-ups on the hill. Many jobs are owner-occupied with tenants in another unit, so we plan shared water, gas and heating shut-offs ahead of time and give notice.
Journal Square
A mix of older apartment buildings, newer high-rises and commercial storefronts near the PATH station. We do condo and apartment renovations here and commercial fit-outs in ground-floor spaces.
Bergen-Lafayette
Rowhouses, brownstones and multifamily homes alongside newer construction. Gut renovations here often turn up old framing and building systems that need bringing up to current code, which we flag in the estimate.
Greenville
Mostly one-, two- and three-family homes on the south side of the city. Kitchens, bathrooms, basements and full-floor renovations are typical, often with tenants living in another unit during the work.
Brownstones and rowhouses
The 19th-century brownstones and brick rowhouses Downtown and around Hamilton Park are beautiful, but opening a wall often turns up balloon framing, old knob-and-tube wiring, galvanized supply lines or cast-iron drains. We plan for that in the estimate and tell you before demolition what is likely behind the plaster, so a kitchen or bathroom remodel does not turn into a surprise change order.
Condos and high-rises
Along the waterfront and around Journal Square, most of our work is inside condo units in mid- and high-rise buildings. Those jobs run on the building's rules: alteration agreements, certificates of insurance naming the association and management company, elevator reservations, set work hours, and protection for hallways and lobbies. We prepare the paperwork and keep the common areas clean every day.
Multifamily homes
In the Heights, Greenville and the West Side, many homes are frame two- and three-family houses, often with the owner living in one unit and tenants in the others. Shared water services, gas lines and boilers mean we map out shut-offs ahead of time and give tenants notice. See our Kitchen Remodel Guide for Jersey City Homes for what we check before cabinets come out.
How Jersey City permits work
Jersey City permit applications are filed through the city's online permitting portal, and zoning review comes first: the Division of Zoning has to approve the use and scope before construction permits and the building, electrical, plumbing and fire subcode technical sections move forward. As your licensed contractor, we prepare and file the paperwork, track the review and book inspections so the job does not stall waiting on the next sign-off.
We have written about this in more detail: the Jersey City kids' play space fit-out walks through the zoning-first sequence on a real commercial job, and Do I Need a Permit for My Renovation in New Jersey? explains which work needs a permit at all.
Case study: a Jersey City kids' play space fit-out
This year our crew fit out a kids' indoor play space with classrooms on the ground floor of an occupied apartment building in Jersey City.
The starting point
A bare commercial shell: block walls, an exposed concrete ceiling and the building's sprinkler and utility lines running overhead, with residential tenants living upstairs.
What we did
- Relocated two toilets in a concrete building and framed new pipe chases so the plumbing stays hidden behind finished walls.
- Framed the classroom and restroom partitions and built out the restrooms.
- Handled the electrical work and new lighting.
- Laid wood-look plank flooring through the rooms and halls, and repainted three staircases and their railings.
- Installed a steel egress stair.
Working around the building
Because the building was occupied, we planned pipe runs and noisy work around the tenants above, kept the halls and stairs clear, and coordinated shut-offs with building management.
The result
A finished play area and classrooms built to the approved plans. Read the full write-up in Jersey City Commercial Fit-Out: How a General Contractor Turned a Bare Shell into a Kids' Play Space, see more photos in our project gallery, or see our commercial contractor services.
All photos from this job are grouped under Jersey City in our project gallery.
Opening a business in a space that was used for something else? See change of use and Certificate of Occupancy help, plus our restaurant and daycare and school build-out pages.
Frequently asked questions
Do you work in Jersey City condo and high-rise buildings?
Yes. We prepare the alteration agreement paperwork and certificates of insurance naming the association and management company, book elevators, follow the building's work hours and protect hallways and lobbies.
Who files the permits for a Jersey City renovation?
We do, as your licensed contractor. Jersey City applications are filed through the city's online permitting portal, and zoning review comes first when the use or scope requires it. We track the review and book the inspections.
Can you renovate one unit of a two- or three-family house while tenants live in the others?
Yes. We map out shared water, gas and heating shut-offs ahead of time so tenants can be given notice, and we keep shared halls and stairs clean and clear.
Do you take commercial jobs in Jersey City?
Yes. We build out offices, retail spaces, restaurants, classrooms and play spaces, including the kids' play space fit-out described on this page. See our commercial contractor page.
Which Jersey City neighborhoods do you serve?
All of them, including Downtown, Paulus Hook, Hamilton Park, the Heights, Journal Square, Bergen-Lafayette, Greenville, the West Side and the waterfront.
How much will my Jersey City renovation cost, and how long will it take?
It depends on the building, the scope and what is behind the walls, so we do not quote over the phone. We walk the space and give you a free itemized written estimate with a realistic schedule.
Services in Jersey City
- Kitchen remodeling: cabinets, counters, tile, lighting and the plumbing and electric behind them.
- Bathroom remodeling: waterproofing, tile, vanities, glass and fixtures.
- Gut renovations of apartments, floors and whole houses.
- Basement finishing in single- and multifamily homes.
- Plumbing, electric and HVAC from our own crew.
- Commercial fit-outs and tenant improvements.
Hoboken GC LLC is licensed (NJ HIC #13VH13409900) and insured, and we answer 24/7. The walkthrough and written estimate are free: call (201) 815-4260.