Convenience-store retailer Applegreen will invest $70 million to build and operate four new service plazas in the Denver area, with demolition of decommissioned toll plaza sites and new construction set to begin in the coming weeks. The project is part of the E-470 Public Highway Authority’s planned conversion of the sites into modern service plazas, the agency has announced. The sites were decommissioned after the E-470 moved fully to cashless electronic tolling.
International roadside hospitality developer and operator Applegreen is responsible for the construction, operation and maintenance of the service plazas and will operate the facilities under a 50-year agreement with the E-470 Public Highway Authority, according to the Dublin, Ireland-based retailer.
This initiative, undertaken in partnership with the cities of Aurora, Commerce City and Parker, Colorado, along with Applegreen, will create four fully featured facilities with amenities that include fuel stations, fast EV charging, food and coffee options and retail services. Each service plaza will include three food and beverage outlets and an Applegreen convenience store, as well as modern seating areas and restrooms.
The project will start in Parker. Subsequent developments in Commerce City and Aurora will commence pending final permits, the agency said.
“This project has been years in the making and represents a bold new chapter for E-470 and our region,” said Joe Donahue, executive director of the E-470 Public Highway Authority. “We’re transforming underutilized infrastructure into something that will directly benefit our customers and communities by providing services they need today and building in flexibility for the future of travel. And we’re proud to be making it a reality without relying on any toll revenue or tax dollars.”
The initiative is the result of more than five years of planning and coordination across jurisdictions and private partners, said the agency. “From day one, this has been a collective effort grounded in a shared, future-focused vision,” said Director Board Chair and Aurora City Council Member Francoise Bergan. “These plazas will do more than serve travelers, they’ll strengthen our communities, support economic growth in Aurora and beyond and enhance the customer experience across the E-470 corridor.”
Joe Barrett, Applegreen CEO said, the new project extends the company’s footprint in the United States. “The Parker Southbound Service Plaza is expected to be operational by [fourth-quarter] 2026, while the two locations in Commerce City, serving the traffic going to and from Denver International Airport, and Aurora, will follow shortly afterwards. Applegreen and Shames Construction, our local construction partner, are thrilled to have this opportunity to deliver a new world-class roadside hospitality experience for the travelling public in the Denver area. Shames Construction, as the design-builder and contractor, will play a key role in delivering the project efficiently and to a high standard. Their work is essential to making these modern service plazas a reality.”
E-470 is a 47-mile highway that forms the eastern half of a beltway around the Denver metropolitan area. It is funded primarily through toll revenue and receives no local, state or federal funding for operations, maintenance and improvements. The E-470 Public Highway Authority is a political subdivision of the state of Colorado. Its board is comprised of eight local governments including Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties, as well as the municipalities of Aurora, Brighton, Commerce City, Parker and Thornton.
A rendering showing the interior of an Applegreen service plaza under development in Colorado. | Applegreen
Battle in the Bay State
Applegreen has invested more than $1.16 billion in the United States since it bought its first two sites in New York’s Long Island in 2014. It will soon complete a $450 million investment program to upgrade and modernize all 27 service plazas on the New York State Thruway, the company said.
In June, Applegreen also was awarded the rights to a travel plaza project in Massachusetts, where it is investing more than $750 million to redevelop and refurbish 18 service plazas across the state, according to the company.
Rival c-store retailer Global Partners is challenging the award, pushing for a formal oversight hearing to get answers from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). Global Partners wants “transparency” and a “more fair” RFP request-for-proposal (RFP) process, it said. It is calling on Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey to intervene, Reid Lamberty, senior communications advisor at Waltham, Massachusetts-based Global Partners, which owns Alltown Fresh and other c-store chains, told CSP.
- Applegreen PLC is No. 47 on CSP’s 2025 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by store count. Global Partners is No. 25.
A major highway service plaza operator in the United States, Ireland and the United Kingdom, Applegreen operates approximately 440 locations and has more than 700 branded food and beverage offers, and 1,385 EV charging ports serving millions of travelers. The company operates 113 service plazas in the United States.
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