The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) awarded Applegreen a 35-year lease to raze and rebuild nine rest stops and refurbish nine others across Massachusetts.
- Applegreen PLC is No. 47 on CSP’s 2025 Top 202 ranking of U.S. convenience-store chains by store count.
Highlights of the $750 million investment include sustainable building design with locally inspired design concepts; open floor layouts including family areas and trucker amenities; rapid increase in electric vehicle charging portals; and a significant increase in car and truck parking within existing plaza boundaries, according to a presentation from MassDOT.
MassDOT’s board of directors awarded the lease on June 18, Jacquelyn Goddard, director of communications for the department, confirmed to CSP Daily News.
“We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and MassDOT to improve the travel experiences of drivers across Massachusetts for years to come,” an Applegreen spokesman told CSP Tuesday.
The travel plazas that will be rebuilt or refurbished largely sit on I-90 and I-95, and span the whole state, from Barnstable in the southeast to Lee in the west (see map below for exact locations). The stores will feature different designs—coastal, metro or western—based on where they are located in the state, according to the presentation.
Applegreen and MassDOT now enter a six-month transition agreement where Applegreen will prepare a master revitalization plan. Then a lease and concessions agreement will take effect Jan. 1, at which time Applegreen begins operations and maintenance of the existing service plazas, according to the MassDOT presentation.
Dublin-based Applegreen is the largest operator of service plazas in the United States, Ireland and the United Kingdom, the presentation said. It has 530 locations and more than 700 food and beverage offerings. Applegreen has undertaken a similar project with service plazas for the New York State Thruway Authority. It said in December that it planned on growing its U.S. travel plazas as part of a $1 billion global investment over the next five years.
Waltham, Massachusetts-based Global Partners LP, and other c-store chains, were also vying for the lease.
The owner of the Alltown Fresh c-store chain posted a series of LinkedIn posts leading up to and after the MassDOT board’s decision, and it encouraged the board to reconsider the award to redevelop the service plazas.
“We are extremely disappointed by the MassDOT board’s decision to move forward with a different partner for the redevelopment of the Commonwealth’s 18 highway service plazas,” Global Partners posted to LinkedIn on Thursday. “Global Partners presented a proposal grounded in Massachusetts values—offering over $1.5 billion in guaranteed rent, $650 million in capital improvements and a vision built on local partnerships, culinary diversity and long-term public benefit. We remain proud of that vision and grateful to the community leaders, small business advocates and residents who supported it.”
The fight is not over, Global Partners said, adding that it hopes MassDOT will reconsider as it enters the next phase of the bid process.
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