Retrofit Atlas

Malls · Delaware

Blue Hen Mall

From the authors' mapRedevelopedReinhabitedRetrofit builtDover, DE

Opened 1968. Redeveloped · Reinhabited in 2018.

Status nowRetrofit builtderived from authors' map (retrofit year present) reported
What it becamehealthcare, office, civicextracted, unreviewed reported
Last sale$17.4M · 2006public reporting
Retrofit year2018authors' map reported
Walkability14.3 of 20 · 15-minute 4 of 6EPA, OpenStreetMap
Rail within 800 mNoOpenStreetMap, HUD
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Solid = from the authors' map · outlined = public source · dashed = model-written, not yet reviewed by a person. Tap any value's source label to see where it came from. documented = a quoted excerpt (click to read it) · reported = a source named, no excerpt yet · no source.

Blue Hen Mall
Exterior view of a former big-box store with brick and white facade under clear blue sky. · verified by a vision model. Photo: SteveBDel, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Site profile15 elements · what this retrofit is built with · tap a chip for the evidence

Former anchors
JCPenneyThis site: JCPenney wikipedia · all sites with this
WoolcoThis site: Woolco wikipedia · all sites with this
WoolworthThis site: Woolworth wikipedia · all sites with this
Finance and pipeline
Website aliveThis site: …http://www.pettinaro.com/properties/property_detail_commercial/blue_hen_corporat overture / http check · all sites with this
Ownership
Single-purpose entityThis site: Pettinaro Enterprises LLC county-parcels · all sites with this
Place
Grocery within 800 mThis site: 1 stores openstreetmap · all sites with this
High heat wave riskThis site: Relatively High fema-nri · all sites with this
High social vulnerability tract (SVI ≥ 0.75)This site: 0.97 cdc-svi · all sites with this
Renter-majority tractThis site: 61% census-acs · all sites with this
Walkable block group (EPA ≥ 12)This site: …index 14.3 epa-walkability · all sites with this
Strategy
RedevelopedThis site: Reinhabitation: office Partial redevelopment: residential arcgis-webmap · all sites with this
ReinhabitedThis site: Reinhabitation: office Partial redevelopment: residential arcgis-webmap · all sites with this
New use
Civic and governmentThis site: …new_use field extraction · all sites with this
HousingThis site: Reinhabitation: office Partial redevelopment: residential extraction · all sites with this
OfficeThis site: Reinhabitation: office Partial redevelopment: residential extraction · all sites with this

All elements and lists · Trends

From the authors' map

DE, Dover: Blue Hen Mall/ Blue Hen Corporate Center, 1998, 2018
• Reinhabitation: office
• Partial redevelopment: residential

Now

StatusRetrofit builtderived from authors' map (retrofit year present) reported
StrategyRedeveloped · Reinhabitedauthors' map reported
New useshealthcare, office, civicextracted, unreviewed reported
What is there nowReinhabitation: office Partial redevelopment: residentialauthors' map reported
Retrofit year2018authors' map reported

Deals and debt

DateEventPricePartiesSource
2006Sold$17.4M closedPettinaro Enterprises LLC ← Blue Hen PropertiesWikipedia

Site context

FEMA flood zoneX · AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARDFEMA NFHL
EPA-regulated facilities within 500 m5: DELDOT MATERIALS LABORATORY; DELDOT MS4 PHASEII; FAMILY DOLLAR STORES OF DE, INC. #3502; FIRESTONE STORE 13F3; NERAK ENTERPRISES/STAR TECHNICAL INSTEPA FRS
Census tract 100010410007,265 people, 703 per sq mi; median household income $60,947; median gross rent $1,333; 61% renters; 6.6% vacant units; 2.6% commute by transitACS 2023 5-year
Walkability (EPA, block group)index 14.3 of 20; 14 intersections per sq mi; nearest transit stop 373 m; land-use mix 0.88; 19,810 jobs within 45 min by car, 7,321 by transit; 11% of households without a carEPA Smart Location
Within a 10–15 minute walk (800 m)4 of 6 daily needs: 1 grocers, 1 schools, 6 parks or playgrounds, 0 health, 0 civic, 4 food and drink; 0 cycleway segments, 87 sidewalk-tagged segmentsOpenStreetMap
Opportunity ZonenoHUD
Housing permits, Kent County (DE), 2024116 units in 5+ unit buildings, 29 in 2–4, 1,056 single-family; 2023: 198 in 5+Census BPS
Social vulnerability (CDC SVI 2022, tract)overall percentile 0.97; socioeconomic 0.86; housing and transport 0.97; 27% below 150% of poverty; 10% of households with no vehicleCDC/ATSDR
Overture Mapsplace Blue Hen Corporate Center (corporate_or_business_office, confidence 0.99, from Foursquare, Overture, Overture-signals); building footprint 41,512 m², 4.767705917358398 mOverture (CDLA-Permissive 2.0)
Website and socialwww.pettinaro.com (alive); archived 2007–2026 (Wayback)Overture / Internet Archive
Attention: Wikipedia page views28,628 since 2015; 2,676 in the last 12 months (-8% vs the prior 12); peak 2020-01 with 841Wikimedia
Tract change 2013–2023population +11% (6,529 → 7,265); median income +27% ($48,125 → $60,947); renters 48% → 61%; median home value +66% ($134,200 → $223,500)Census ACS 5-year
Natural hazard risk (FEMA National Risk Index, tract)relatively moderate overall (score 70.9); expected annual loss $1.7M; high: heat wave, winter weather, cold wave, lightning; community resilience relatively moderateFEMA NRI
Tax-credit housing within 1 km1 LIHTC properties, 1 units: Barrister Place (1 units)HUD LIHTC
Retail trade in the county, 2025 (BLS QCEW)8,184 jobs in 551 establishments; average annual pay $40,540; employment location quotient 1.17; employment -9.0% on the yearBLS QCEW 2025, NAICS 44-45, private
Jobs located in the tract, 20222,872 jobs; 364 in retail trade, 278 in accommodation and food (workplace blocks summed to tract 10001041000)Census LEHD LODES8 WAC 2022
Upward mobility (Opportunity Atlas, 2010 tract)children of low-income (25th percentile) families reached the 36th income percentile as adults; 4.3% incarcerated at the 2010 count (790 children in the sample); born 1978–83, measured 2014–15Opportunity Insights
Food access (USDA FARA 2019, 2010 tract)low-income, low-access tract (1 mile urban / 10 miles rural); 11% of residents more than 1 mile from a supermarket; poverty rate 16.4%; median family income $49,172; 626 SNAP householdsUSDA ERS
SchoolsCapital School District (PK-12); 2 public schools within 1 mile: East Dover Elementary School; South Dover Elementary SchoolNCES EDGE
Elevation37 ft above sea level at the site pointUSGS 3DEP
Storm events in the county, 2016-2025192 county-logged events: 106 thunderstorm wind, 52 heavy rain, 13 flood, 12 hail; no property damage reported; forecast-zone events (most flood, winter and heat) not countedNOAA Storm Events
Homes for sale in ZIP 19901, 2026-09median list price $374,975 (+18.1% on the year); 93 active listings; median 49 days on market; 20% with a price cutRealtor.com Research
Retail trade in the county, 2012 to 2023670 establishments (+19%); 10,680 jobs (+19%)Census CBP
Housing market in the countytypical home value $371,868 (+2% 1 yr, +29% 5 yr); typical rent $1,775/mo (+4% 1 yr), 2026-09Zillow Research
House price index, tract, 2025297 (2000 = 100); +1.4% 1 yr, +44% 5 yr, +88% 10 yrFHFA
Traffic on the busiest road within 600 m (2024)22,441 vehicles a day on BAY ROAD (minor arterial, 4 lanes); 14 counted segmentsFHWA HPMS

Similar sites

  • 100 Oaks Mall, Nashville, TN · Malls · opened 1967; same strategy: reinhabit
  • Civic Center Mall, Hartford, CT · Malls · opened 1974; same strategy: redevelop, reinhabit
  • Newmarket North Mall, Hampton, VA · Malls · opened 1975; same strategy: reinhabit
  • Lexington Mall, Lexington, KY · Malls · opened 1974; same strategy: reinhabit

Elsewhere on the web

Retail history: Blue Hen Mall on DeadMalls.com photos, field notes and visitor memories since 2000; matched by name and city; nothing copied here

Pages with photos

Search images: Google · Bing · Commons · references: ULI case studies · Google Scholar

Multifamily screen

  • retrofit already built
  • county grew 5.8% 2018–23

Inputs: record fields (size, status) and county Census ACS 2018–2023 figures (growth, rent). How the points work. Not a recommendation.

History and original facts

Now called / also known asBlue Hen Corporate Center
Opened1968Wikidata
Stores at peak50extracted, unreviewed reported
Original developerJardel Companyextracted, unreviewed
documented
The mall opened in August 1968, and was developed and owned by the Jardel Company.

en.wikipedia.org

AnchorsWoolco, JCPenney, Woolworth, Dover Cinema
CountyKent County
Census division5 · South Atlantic

Not yet recorded: acres, GLA. Know it? Tell us.

Background

The Blue Hen Mall is a defunct shopping mall on Bay Road in Dover, Delaware. The mall opened in August 1968, and was developed and owned by the Jardel Company. It was named after Delaware’s official state bird, the blue hen chicken, and was the only enclosed mall serving the Dover area until the opening of the Dover Mall in 1982. After losing all of its anchor stores in the early 1990s, the mall was converted into a corporate center. The former mall now contains various medical facilities, along with a mix of state and federal offices. Major tenants include Bayhealth Medical Center, the State of Delaware, the U.S. Social Security Administration, and an outpatient clinic operated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The building was constructed with a gross leasable area of 479,533 square feet (44,550.1 m2) and 6,000 parking spaces.

Excerpt from Wikipedia (authors and history), CC BY-SA 4.0. May be older than the record above.

Timeline

  1. 1966 Construction began
  2. 1968 Opened (Wikidata)
  3. 1968 Mall opened
  4. 1982 Dover Mall opened nearby
  5. 1983 Woolco store closed
  6. 1987 Renovation announced
  7. 1993 JCPenney relocated
  8. 1994 Roses closed
  9. 1995 Rebranded as corporate center
  10. 2006 Sold to Pettinaro Enterprises
  11. 2018 Retrofit: redevelop, reinhabit
  12. 2022 Bayhealth acquired anchor spaces

Sources

  • Wikipedia · supports: original developer
    11 quoted sentences
    The mall opened in August 1968, and was developed and owned by the Jardel Company.
    Construction on the Blue Hen Mall began in September 1966, at an expected cost of $5 million.
    The mall opened in August 1968, and was developed and owned by the Jardel Company.
    In 1982, the Dover Mall opened 4 miles (6.4 km) north of the Blue Hen Mall on North DuPont Highway.
  • Retrofitting Suburbia Interactive Mall Map (ArcGIS web map ce33ab26…) · 2021-01-20

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