Bayhealth closes $17M Blue Hen center acquisition

Bayhealth recently closed on $17 million to acquire 185,000 square-feet of space in the Blue Hen Corprate Center | DBT FILE PHOTO

DOVER — Bayhealth and Pettinaro have closed the $17 million sale of the Blue Hen Corporate Center late last week, according to county land records. It leaves the Kent County health care system poised to renovate the space.

In December, Bayhealth announced that it would double its existing space in the corporate center off U.S. Route 13 to create a “one-stop” service for their patients. The facility is slated for renovations this year, and is on track to open in 2023.

Bayhealth has an orthopedic and information technology office in the Blue Hen Corporate Center, and plans to expand its footprint by 185,000 square feet. The deal represents a sale price of nearly $92 per square foot.

The original building was constructed in 1968 as the Blue Hen Mall. At the time, it was Kent County’s most popular shopping destination right off Route 1, until the Dover Mall opened in 1982 and began to draw business to Route 13. Rebranded as a corporate center in 1998, it later drew Aetna’s corporate offices and a Bank of America call center. Both companies left by 2009.

Pettinaro bought the Blue Hen Corporate Center in 2008 for a reported $17.4 million and renovated the parking lot and the building. By the end of 2021 the center has leased or sold 193,000 square feet of the 479,533 square-foot building, marking a 40% occupancy rate.  

Existing tenants include Bayada Nurses, FMC Dialysis, the Wilmington VA Medical Center, the U.S. Social Security Administration and several state offices. Bayhealth would double the occupancy rate with its latest expansion. 

Earlier this year, Bayhealth secured $103 million in Kent and Sussex County bonds for multiple projects, including $39.5 million for “Dover Medical Neighborhood specialty clinical services and administration space.”