Bloomfield Church Wants To Turn Old Convent Into Senior Housing

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Church leaders are planning to convert a vacant convent at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Bloomfield into residential housing for seniors.

A proposal under consideration in the Archdiocese of Newark would convert the convent into up to four double residences and four singles, with two parking spaces per unit, Essex News Daily reported.

“The developer [Valorev Capital of Brooklyn] is looking to sign a 99-year lease,” the Rev. Lawrence Fama said. “The income for the parish is minimal. The developer is investing a lot of money to bring the building up to code and make it beautiful inside.”

According to a church bulletin, the Bloomfield Zoning Board of Adjustment has scheduled a public hearing at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 25 via Zoom on the application to convert and adaptively re-use the existing convent building into a residential building with eight dwelling units.

Fama gave some background on the proposal in a letter to the congregation last summer. The message read:

“I’m writing you today about an important topic in the life of our parish family. For decades our convent had been the home for members of the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth, who taught in our school and worked in our parish. Sadly, as the number of sisters has decreased dramatically (from around 2,000 in the 1960’s to less than 175 today), the Order of Sisters withdrew from our school and parish over 10 years ago. At one time there were 16 sisters in our convent, but since that time the convent has remained vacant.

“When I arrived here is 2019, I knew that the convent cannot – should not – remain vacant forever. I saw the potential in converting the building into independent senior housing to meet the need for this in our area. Many of our aging population are now ‘empty nesters,’ who find that their home is too big and too expensive. Also, many do not want to move out of the area, as they want to continue to be near family, friends, doctors, etc.

“A year or so ago, I asked the Property Management Office of the Archdiocese if they knew of a developer who had done conversions of church buildings into senior housing. They recommended Valorev Capital – a company the Archdiocese has been working with on some projects, including the conversion of the convent at St. Paul of the Cross in Jersey City into senior housing.

“Since that time, I have met with David Scharf and Zakary Levin from Valorev Capital, as well as Steve Belloise and Martha Rodriguez from the Archdiocese, and Jim Gasparini, our former Director of Operations here at the parish.

“As I write this, Valorev Capital is preparing all the necessary documentation to go before our town’s Planning Board in order to receive the proper approvals. Once the plans for the convent are approved, Valorev Capital is looking to construct six to eight units of independent senior housing and sign a 99-year lease with the parish. Valorev Capital will present an ‘Information Night’ here in the fall, once the town approves the plans.

“Please keep the success of this project in your prayers as it will benefit the parish and the wider community.”

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