Local company wants judge to halt highway service plaza overhaul in Massachusetts
A local company is making another push to stop the Massachusetts Department of Transportation from moving forward with the winning bidder of a contract to overhaul 18 highway service plazas in the state.
Waltham-based Global Partners is asking a Suffolk Superior Court judge to block MassDOT from executing the 35-year contract with Applegreen, a company founded in Ireland that already operates dozens of service plazas in the northeast.
Global Partners has claimed its bid was nearly $1 billion higher - a figure that is disputed by Applegreen and MassDOT - and also alleges that there were "improper and prohibited" communications between Applegreen and state transportation officials.
Conflict of interest?
Text messages obtained by Global Partners through a public records request show a MassDOT official telling an Applegreen board member, "Your team did a good job today. Now the work begins." Global Partners argues that conflict of interest and ethics violations should disqualify Applegreen from the contract.
"MassDOT ignored its own rules, its own experts, and nearly a billion dollars in additional guaranteed value for taxpayers," Global Partners CEO Eric Slifka said in a statement. "We filed this lawsuit because the public deserves a fair, transparent process, not a backroom deal riddled with conflicts of interest where people win by not playing by the rules."
Applegreen counters that Global Partners has engaged in "a series of PR stunts and misinformation efforts" to try and get the contract decision reversed. The texts messages don't show anything improper, just a "cordial professional relationship" with MassDOT officials, Applegreen's U.S.-based parent company Blackstone said.
"There is absolutely nothing in the thousands of public documents recounting the bidding process that suggests anything to the contrary," Blackstone spokesperson Paula Chihart said in a statement. "Our team was awarded this contract because of our bold vision to reimagine Massachusetts' travel plazas, and our long-track record as a leading global hospitality provider."
Transforming highway service plazas
The contract calls for nine rest stop buildings to be torn down and rebuilt, and nine others will be significantly renovated. Several of the affected service plazas are on the Mass Pike, including the Newton, Natick, Framingham, Westboro and Charlton plazas.
Applegreen has said it will be ready to "hit the ground running" in January, with work finishing in 2028, and has pledged to invest $750 million into rebuilding the plazas with refreshed exterior and interior designs, more parking and better bathrooms.
"As the only team with the experience, investment, achievable financial projections and ability to execute on the Commonwealth's goals, we stand behind our bid and the released documents reinforce that position," Applegreen co-founder Bob Etchingham said in a statement.
Click here to watch full interviews with the leaders of Global Partners and Applegreen from earlier this summer.
