DOVER – State Street Assisted Living in Dover changed hands in December after a $9 million acquisition by the publicly-traded
Ventas.
Ventas, Inc. is a leading Standard and Poor's (S&P) 500 real estate investment trust headquartered in Chicago with more than 1,350 properties in its portfolio, including medical and healthcare facilities, research centers and senior housing opportunities throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
A spokesperson from Ventas confirmed the purchase of 21 N. State St. which was made under the name VTR Dover LLC on Dec. 31, according to Kent County property records.
After spinning off of a post-acute health care company called Vencor, Ventas was founded in 1998 and is now the second-largest owner of senior housing, as reported by the Delaware Business Times when the company purchased
HarborChase of Wilmington in the fall of 2024.
Representatives for both Ventas and the new manager of the facility,
Seaton Senior Living, stated that all of the existing staff members have been retained. But they declined to comment further about the sale, employees or how many residents currently live at the facility. The Delaware Health Care Facilities Association lists 98 beds at the location.
Seaton Senior Living does not yet list any Delaware properties managed by the company on its website. Other properties managed by the company include one each in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and two in Maryland.
On its website,
State Street Assisted Living boasts “robust events” and activities for its residents, as well as on-site health and wellness programs and other amenities such as spiritual services, medication management, chef-prepared dining and programs for veterans.
The facility also has a memory care unit for residents living with dementia or other memory-related issues, complete with specialized services and staff, along with care plans.
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State Street Assisted Living has been acquired by Ventas and will be managed by Seaton Senior Living. l DBT PHOTO BY JENNIFER ANTONIK[/caption]
State Street Assisted Living is just one of dozens of licensed assisted living facilities in the state, although most are situated within New Castle County. According to the
2023 Delaware Assisted Living Utilization Statistical Report published in August 2024 by the Delaware Health and Social Services’ Delaware Health Care Commission, Kent County housed five assisted living or rest residential facilities while Sussex County housed seven – New Castle County accounted for the remaining 22 facilities.
But it doesn’t come without a cost – according to seniorliving.org, assisted living costs $66,000 per year on average in Delaware, compared to the national average of about $42,000 with memory care coming in at a higher rate of about $95,700 annually. In Delaware, most of the residents in assisted living facilities are counted as “self-pay” clients with a small portion of residents paying by Medicaid or other methods.