Whole Foods Market will be moving its headquarters out of Englewood Cliffs and setting up shop in Jersey City.

The organic supermarket chain owned by Amazon has signed leases with Mack-Cali Realty for a 47,398-square-foot office space for its new Northeast Regional headquarters. It will also open a new store not far from the Hudson River waterfront, according to Mack-Cali's first quarter report on Wednesday.

Whole Foods has its Northeast Regional office in Englewood Cliffs in the Sylvan Corporate Center at 930 Sylvan Ave. This headquarters covers Whole Foods stores for all of New York, and much of New Jersey and Connecticut.

The supermarket chain will be leaving an area where headquarters for such companies as CNBC and Unilever are based.

Nick Hilton, executive vice president of leasing for Mack-Cali, said the headquarters will move into space in Mack-Cali's Harborside 3 building on Hudson Street, where Mack-Cali's corporate headquarters is located.

Hilton said the supermarket will probably move into space on Greene Street, at Mack-Cali’s Harborside 4A building, where a Five Guys restaurant now operates. That will move to another location nearby on Washington Street to make way for the Whole Foods.

"It's a really exciting time for Jersey City, and it's a very exciting time right now for us to announce Whole Foods as an addition, not only to our portfolio, but also to the community," Hilton said.

Hilton said Whole Foods is expected to move into the new Jersey City headquarters by the end of the year after Mack-Cali does construction work on the floor above Mack-Cali's headquarters.

Hilton said the opening date for the supermarket would be set by Whole Foods. Work will be done on the Greene Street location before the 47,542-square-foot Whole Foods moves in, including converting a part of the parking garage on the first floor into additional space for the supermarket, which will encompass two floors.

Whole Foods did not respond to requests for comment on how many employees will be relocated to Jersey City or when the supermarket will open.

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Englewood Cliffs Mayor Mario Kranjac and members of the borough council did not respond to an email for comment on the impact of Whole Foods' departure from the borough.

Hilton said the leases for both the headquarters and the supermarket were signed in late March after nearly of negotiations with Whole Foods.

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said he "welcomes Whole Foods to Jersey City, and the company bringing their Northeast Regional headquarters is telling of how Jersey City continues to prosper and offer unique opportunities for businesses large and small."

Whole Foods finally committing to opening a store location in Jersey City puts an end to rumors and near-misses for a number of years that the chain would establish a foothold in the state's second largest city.

When it opens, it will join the growing list of stores slated to debut in the future including in Wayne, Weehawken and Parsippany. There are already stores across northern New Jersey including Ridgewood, Paramus, Edgewater, Closter and Montclair.

Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com