mixed use to residential conversion

[Sal H.]

I have a 3 unit. store front and 2 apartments above it in Jersey city. Does anyone know how expensive or difficult it would be to get the store front converted to residential? I assume I would need to get a nj green card. other than the regular fire inspections for smoke and carbon monoxide detectors do I need to plan for anything? I am having a hard time getting any concrete information

[Amit Patel]

Sal - PM Me. You can contact Nick Taylor in Jersey City zoning office and they will tell you what to do.

Typically, in most areas, if you are converting one commercial to one residential, you shouldn't need to go through zoning approval but you can call Nick Taylor at zoning office and ask. You should also go to the construction office and talk to them about any requirements. Sometimes they will require sprinklers and that gets expensive. Also - if you are have to actually convert to an apartment (bathroom ,etc. ) all of that will go with the new Code which is pretty stringent so be careful.

I converted a 4-unit + 1 Commercial to 4 units + 2 residential so had to go through zoning. The zoning lawyer costs/fees, etc. were about 7K. I don't believe you will need a lawyer for this. We had to also get the basement and first floor sprinklered (the total floor size was 2,000 sq. feet) and that cost about 13k total. I was doing a gut rehab and since we were doing the outside, I had to comply with regulations for siding and had to use hardy (couldn't' use vinyl). A lot of this won't apply to you but just want to point out some examples. Don't be afraid though, go through the town as they are very helpful and get information. W If you are stuck, you can also try to find an architect that may take on smaller projects (with all the building going on, it is hard to find good jersey city architects for smaller projects as they are all on bigger projects). PM me for zoning lawyer info. He will give you a phone consultation for free usually so will probably help you.