Housing Development Proposed For Historic Convent In Mendham

MENDHAM, NJ — A local convent may soon undergo changes, including the conversion of the nearly century-old convent and surrounding buildings into a new housing development.

If approved, the proposal, which will be heard on Mar. 21, will allow the Sisters of Christian Charity convent on Bernardsville Road to add 111 multi-family housing units.

"The application for Accordia is being carried to the March 21 meeting of the JLUB. There will be no testimony on this application at the February 23 meeting," said Carolynn Budd, the Borough Clerk.

The application proposes converting the former "motherhouse" on the property of the Sisters of Christian Charity into a 94-unit apartment building, as well as converting other structures on the property into an additional 17 units, for a total of 111 dwelling units.

According to the application plans, the new developments will have one to three bedrooms, with the majority of units having two bedrooms.

Since the 1920s, the Sisters of Christian Charity have served the church and the local community on the former Cromwell Estate. The religious order was established in 1849 in Germany and has had a presence in the United States since 1873.

The Sisters bought the Seymour Cromwell Estate in 1926 and established the Eastern Province in Mendham Borough in 1927. That space served as their motherhouse until 1932 when they relocated to the Mallinckrodt Convent, a larger space adjacent to the Cromwell mansion.

In 2018, the Sisters outgrew their space once more and relocated from the old Mallinckrodt Convent to their newly built 164,910-square-foot motherhouse, according to the application.

The Mallinckrodt Convent, located at 350 Bernardsville Road, has been empty since 2018 and is the subject of the application.

According to the proposal, the 109-acre property will be divided into two lots: one 86.92-acre lot that will retain the current Mallinckrodt Convent and the Cromwell mansion, and one 23-acre lot, that will serve as the development site.

The 23-acre lot will consist of the former motherhouse, along with several outbuildings that front Hilltop Road, according to the application documents.

The convent intends to keep control of the 86.92-acre lot in order to further its mission from its new Mallinckrodt Convent while leasing out the 23-acre lot for the development of the 111 housing units.

A section of the land will also be reused into multi-family residential units with structured and surfaced parking and residential amenities.

The applicant claims that the exterior of the motherhouse will remain largely unchanged, with plans to use replacement materials that are consistent with the old ones. The proposed parking structure would be constructed underground.

Pickleball courts, a swimming pool, shuffleboard courts, a barbecue area, and several lawn and terrace areas are all possible amenities.

The applicant underwent a traffic study as part of the application process, which examines traffic operations on roads adjacent to the proposed property, both with and without the influence of new traffic trips generated by the planned development, to identify potential impacts to traffic operations attributable to the project.

As part of their findings, the review board has requested that the applicant address whether the traffic volume counts recorded in May 2022 reflect typical conditions and that they were not influenced by changed traffic patterns related to the pandemic.

To view the full application, click here.

This story has been updated to reflect the application's new hearing date.