by Linda Moss Costar
Ireland-based Applegreen, the largest highway rest stop operator in the United States, plans to invest $126 million in New Jersey, opening an American headquarters in Glen Rock, revamping nearly two dozen of its Garden State locations and creating roughly 900 jobs.
The commitment, announced Monday, is the biggest news so far to come out of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy's four-day economic mission in Ireland, a trip where he's promoting investment in his state. At a joint news conference in Dublin, the governor welcomed Applegreen’s financial commitment and the improvement it will make to the area's travel infrastructure.
Applegreen, based in Dublin and a major highway service plaza operator in Europe as well as the United States, describes itself as "a major petrol forecourt retailer."
Applegreen said it will relocate its U.S. travel plaza headquarters to Glen Rock, a Bergen County municipality where it already has a presence, adding at least 100 new jobs in finance, administration, development and logistics to the region.
“Northern New Jersey proved an ideal location for our headquarters as it is centrally located amidst many states in which we operate, is close to several major airports and offers top talent for our rapidly growing business," Elizabeth Pierce, president of Applegreen USA operations, said in a statement.
The governor's office referred questions on the current location of Applegreen's U.S. base and exactly where it will be relocated in Glen Rock to the company. Applegreen didn't immediately respond to emails from CoStar News seeking comment.
Applegreen will also be redeveloping all of its New Jersey’s rest stops, a move that will create 800 new jobs over the coming years. The first two redevelopments, at the Woodrow Wilson and Molly Pitcher travel plazas, are expected to be completed before the Fourth of July holiday.
“Applegreen is a world-class travel infrastructure partner who will generate significant economic growth for the state and bring innovation and expertise to the redevelopment of New Jersey’s 21 on-highway services plazas," Murphy said in a statement, where he also described himself as a proud Irish American.
Applegreen has more than 250 sites across 18 states including New Jersey, where the redeveloped plazas will offer commuters the latest technologies and will focus on electric-vehicle charging. In the states, Applegreen is installing EV infrastructure throughout the Northeast, which is in addition to its existing infrastructure portfolio in Europe.
The company acquired the concession for its Garden State service plazas last summer. It has a U.S. workforce of more than 5,000 employees, and its plaza redevelopment project is expected to create at least 800 new jobs, in addition to the 100 skilled new positions created by the relocation of its headquarters.
“Our Northeast footprint is expanding rapidly. ... The creation of hundreds of new jobs through these exciting projects will deliver a significant boost to the New Jersey economy, and, as such, today’s announcement is a genuine Irish-American win-win,” Pierce said.
Applegreen was taken private in March 2021 by a partnership comprised of its founders, Bob Etchingham and Joe Barrett, and Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, a leading investor in U.S. infrastructure assets.
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