Applegreen to Back Out of Deal
Irish company Applegreen, which was awarded by MassDOT in June to redevelop 18 service areas in Massachusetts, has backed out of its deal. The company said in a statement, “After three months of good faith negotiations, Applegreen and MassDOT have not reached agreement on definitive terms for the redevelopment of 18 motorway service areas in Massachusetts.” The 35-year deal Applegreen was offered will now no longer go through due to these reasons, nor will the project.
In their statement, Applegreen also mentioned the mounting legal costs, which have been an issue since Global Partners, based in Waltham, MA, has challenged Applegreen’s project. Global Partners CEO Erik Slifka also said, “Applegreen’s decision to walk away underscores the very concerns raised for months: their proposal was never financially sound and never in the best interests of the Commonwealth.”
Applegreen’s plan was to tear down nine of the 18 rest stops and significantly upgrade the other nine of them. With the agreement falling through, that is no longer the case. The Secretary of Transportation and MassDOT CEO, Monica Tibbits-Nutt, said, “It is now clear that Applegreen is no longer the right partner to deliver on this project. Our focus is on moving forward to deliver the highest quality service plazas as quickly as possible for the people of Massachusetts.”
Governor Maura Healey also chimed in, saying, “It’s a very significant contract. This is a major contract for the state. I want to make sure it’s done right, it’s done well, and that at the end of the day it delivers the very best product and quality for our residents, for our customers, and for our drivers.” It isn’t clear as of now what the next move is, as Healey, when asked if the state has a timeline to decide the next course of action, said, “not yet, not yet.”
