‘Disgruntled loser’? Winning bidder balks at Mass Pike rest stop suit
A Waltham company, smarting after the rejection of its plan to renovate and operate the commonwealth's highway service plazas , has sued the state's Department of Transportation over its public records.
Global Partners proposed a plan it said would have paid the state $1.52 billion over the 30-year life of the contract, compared with winning bidder Applegreen's $500 million to $994 million, based on plaza rent and profitability. Applegreen also will invest $750 million in its rehab of the rest stops.
Global Partners' suit was filed Friday in Boston's Suffolk Superior Court, according to court documents.
On Monday, Global Partners said it has filed four open records requests since June, seeking communications, evaluations and internal records, hoping, it says, to find out why it lost out on the bid.
Interstate 90 eastbound services in Ludlow on Monday. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
Global Partners says that, besides a higher payout of over the life of the contract, it would have provided opportunities for local brands and restaurants in the lucrative rest-stop business, where they could use the captive audience as a marketing tool for Massachusetts products and services.
Global Partners has Alltown and Alltown Fresh stores in Western Massachusetts, as well as the Honey Farms chain centered in Worcester. It has the convenience stores in the rest stops now as a subtenant in a lease that's expiring.
And Global Partners wants text messages, emails and other communications between MassDOT selection committee members and MassDOT board members regarding accounting firm KPMG's review of the revenue of the competing proposals.
Global Partners wants to see communications between between selection committee chair Scott Bosworth and Applegreen, its owners Blackstone and Suffolk Construction, the company Applegreen will use to rebuild the rest areas.
It wants to see conflict of interest disclosures and recusals after alleging that Bosworth sought employment with Blackstone, the private equity firm that took Applegreen private in 2020.
An Applegreen spokeswoman said Global Partners is trying to pressure Gov. Maura T. Healey to reverse MassDOT's decision.
An artist's rendition of what the Ludlow Service Plaza might look like after renovations. (Image provided by Applegreen)The Republican
But Applegreen is already well into the design process and plans to start renovation work on the first six of the 18 plazas in January. It will announce in the fall which six will be first.
MassDOT did not respond Monday to questions about the public information request.
Both Blackstone and Applegreen say there were no discussions about Bosworth's potential employment with Blackstone, any of its funds or its portfolio companies.
An artist's conception of what a renovated Lee travel plaza on the Massachusetts Turnpike in Berkshire County would have looked like had Global Partners' bid been selected. (Image provided by Gensler Construction)The Republican
"Applegreen strongly rejects the unfounded allegations being made by the disgruntled loser of the public procurement process for the Massachusetts Highway Service Plaza revitalisation," said Bob Etchingham, founder and chairman of Applegreen, in a written statement."We have acted with the utmost integrity at every step of the process. Our proposal was stronger, more creative, more sustainable and more aligned with the commonwealth's vision for the future. Any claims to the contrary are simply untrue."
Applegreen, based in Ireland, already runs similar rest stops, including those in New York and New Jersey.
Stories by Jim Kinney
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