Big changes are coming to 18 highway service plazas in Massachusetts. The Department of Transportation voted Wednesday to award a 35-year lease to an Irish company that intends to raze and rebuild nine rest stops, while significantly refurbishing nine others.

Construction will start in January of 2026. Applegreen chief investment officer Ronan Ryan said Dublin-based company will invest $750 million in the plazas, which will remained owned by MassDOT.

"We have a proven track record of undertaking significant service plaza redevelopment projects in the U.S.," Ryan said.

Many of the plazas that will be knocked down and rebuild are on the Mass Pike. They include the Natick, Framingham, Westboro, Charlton, Ludlow and Lee plazas.

At the MassDOT board meeting, many spoke out in favor of Boston-based Global Partners, which was also bidding for the contract. Global Partners chief operating officer Mark Romaine said that his company made a rent commitment that was worth $500 million more than Applegreen.

"Instead, the committee is recommending a foreign-owned operator with a documented history of underperformance," he said.

MassDOT chief development officer Scott Bosworth touted Applegreen's "bold approach" and noted that they just renovated 27 service areas in New York. 

The plazas will have a different exterior based on their location, with "coastal," "metro" and a "western" design that is meant to invoke the Berkshires.

Among the improvements planned for the Massachusetts rest stops include hundreds more parking spots, children's play areas, dog areas and "inviting" bathrooms.

"Seventy percent of the people turn into the plaza to use the bathrooms. That's a critical point," Bosworth said. "The data shows that if they have a good experience doing that, the dwell time will be increased as well as the conversion rate, meaning they'll actually stop and buy something."