Annisia head shot
 Annisia Cialone, Director PP, AICP, LEED AP

The Department of Housing, Economic Development & Commerce (HEDC) is led by Director Annisia Cialone. HEDC is responsible for planning and overseeing the orderly growth and development of Jersey City’s residential, commercial, non-profit, and industrial sectors through the coordination of agencies, comprehensive planning, regulation of land use, disbursement of state and federal grant funds, permitting, and code enforcement.

HEDC is also responsible for contributing to the public welfare and quality of life by supporting social services providers, staffing public boards, enforcing building codes, housing codes, rent and tenant laws, and issuing licenses to businesses.


OUR NEW ONLINE PERMITTING AND LICENSING SYSTEM HAS LAUNCHED!

To set up an account, please visit: 

jcnj.org/permitportal

Additional instructions on how to create an account can be found below.

The Department of Housing, Economic Development and Commerce has an exciting announcement that will affect how you apply for permits, upload or see documents and make payments – whether you are renovating your home, building a high rise, registering your rental property or applying for a cannabis license. As a homeowner, contractor, developer, taxi driver – anyone who needs a permit or license to do your work through HEDC, your experience is about to become simpler, with your application and all support materials – even making payments – in one place.


The new system is LIVE as of June 14, 2023!

If you have an existing application that needs to be linked to your new customer portal account, please email [email protected] for assistance.

 

WHAT THE NEW SOFTWARE WILL ACCEPT AND PROCESS

  •  Zoning Determination Letters and plan review applications
  •  City Planning Board applications
  •  Historic Preservation applications
  •  Construction Code applications and inspection requests
  •  Housing Preservation registrations, applications and licenses
  •  Commerce business license applications
  •  JCMUA permit applications
  •  Zoning, Construction Code, and Quality of Life violations

All the applications above, which you would formerly find in different locations, will now be uploaded in one place.

 

CREATING AN ACCOUNT

  •  Create an account on the customer portal to submit, pay and track your application. Instructions on how to create an account are below.
  •  Existing applications will be migrated to the new system- you will need to create a new account to access them. Once you have done this, please contact [email protected] or our individual offices to link your existing application to your account.

SUPPORT

 

Staff are available to assist you. Email [email protected] or contact any of our divisions.

 

We hope you are excited as we are about this huge step towards modernizing our services. We strive to be New Jersey’s leader in delivering the best possible service to the public.  If you have any questions or concerns about our transition to the new software, feel free to reach out to us. If you like it, we’d love to hear from you too!

INSTRUCTIONS FOR CREATING A CUSTOMER PORTAL ACCOUNT

To set up an online CSS account, please visit jcnj.org/permitportal

Go to the top right and click "Login or Register"


Please note: you will not be able to use the same email for multiple accounts  Each email is account specific.

You will receive a confirmation email that will direct you back to the setup screen to continue the process.



Next you will have to decide on a username and password. The username can be the email address you are registering with.



Next you will enter in contact information. Notice that you cannot change the email address.  Remember if you are creating a Company Account, enter in the name of the Company in the First Name, Last Name, and Company fields. If you are creating a Name account, you do not need to enter a company. When you have completed all the required fields, Click Next. 


Next you will enter in your Contact Address. This may be different than the address of your project.



Last, you will need to sign and hit submit.

 

Contact Info

All HEDC Offices are operating as normal and continue to respond to phone calls and emails during standard office hours (8:30am-4:30pm). Please refer to the directory below for assistance.

If you are having issues getting in touch with any of our Divisions, please call or email the HEDC Director’s office at 201-547-5070 or [email protected]. Staff is available to help.

 Division Phone Number   Email Address
 City Planning  (201) 547-5010  [email protected]
 Zoning  (201) 547-4832  [email protected] 
 Construction Code  (201) 547-5055  [email protected]
 Commerce  (201) 547-5139  [email protected]
 Community Development  (201) 547-6910  [email protected]
 Economic Development  (201) 547-6567  [email protected]
 Housing Preservation  (201) 547-5127  [email protected]
 Affordable Housing  (201) 547-5169  [email protected]

 


We're Hiring!

HEDC is always looking for hardworking and dedicated employees to join our team.  We currently have the following positions open in our Department. If you are interested please click the links for more information.

Division of Affordable Housing


Division of City Planning


Division of Community Development


Division of Construction Code

Division of Housing Preservation

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HEDC Initiatives

Jersey City Mayor Steven M. Fulop highlighted some of HEDC's initiatives and accomplishments in his 2023 State of the City Address on March 28th, 2023.  A portion of his address can be viewed at the link below.

Contact Info

  • phone(201)-547-5070
  • One Jackson Square (364 MLK Drive)
    Jersey City, NJ 07305

    Annisia Cialone, Director

    Office Hours: 8:30am-4:30pm

  • Directions