The landmark Villa Assumpta convent at North Charles Street and Bellona Avenue in Towson is trading quiet corridors of nuns for the bustle of a new senior living campus. Roland Park Place and the School Sisters of Notre Dame have announced that the historic, nine-acre property will be repurposed as a full-service senior community, with construction slated to start in late 2028 and an opening targeted for fall 2030.
Roland Park Place confirmed that timeline in a company statement and framed the Towson project as a way to grow without giving up its existing Baltimore campus, according to The Baltimore Banner. The Banner reports that the organization plans to renovate the convent site and that the move is meant to meet rising regional demand for full-service senior living.
About the Property and the Sisters
The School Sisters of Notre Dame bought the Villa Assumpta site in 1937 and used it as a regional motherhouse for decades. For many years, the Maria Health Care Center operated on the lower floors, but it closed in 2021. About 37 sisters who needed care then moved to Stella Maris in Timonium, the Catholic Review reported.
As the order prepared to sell the property last year, the sisters planned their relocations and organized a private remembrance Mass to mark the handoff of a site that had anchored their community life for generations, according to the Catholic Review.
Who Roland Park Place Is
Roland Park Place currently runs a continuing-care retirement community across from the Rotunda in Hampden. Its Baltimore campus offers independent-living residences, an arts and education center, multiple dining options, and both short- and long-term care.
The organization recently wrapped up an expansion that added dozens of independent-living units at the city site, a buildout that helps explain why the Towson property is considered a natural fit for its model. For more on the operator and its existing campus, see Roland Park Place.
Why Towson
The Towson move tracks with what is happening across the region. Planners and senior housing operators are racing to keep up as Maryland’s population gets older and demand for full-service options grows. Recent reporting on similar projects notes that about 18.7 percent of Baltimore County residents are already 65 or older, and developers are increasingly turning to adaptive reuse of institutional and office buildings to create senior housing, according to Baltimore Fishbowl.
Next Steps
Roland Park Place says it expects to break ground in late 2028 and open the Towson campus in fall 2030. The group’s initial announcement did not spell out how many units are planned, what they might cost, or a detailed construction schedule, according to The Baltimore Banner.
Local permitting and design approvals will help determine how smoothly the project moves from plans to reality. For nearby residents and future seniors, the conversion keeps a highly visible Towson landmark in active community use while adding another option for aging in place in the region.
This story will be updated as Roland Park Place and Baltimore County officials release more information on design details, capacity, and the public review process.
