Improvements in Connecticut Service Plazas and Rest Areas Can Lead to More State Revenue

Driving along Route 15, Interstate 95, Interstate 84, Interstate 91, and Interstate 395 in Connecticut, tourists and residents drive past a variety of highway service plazas and rest areas that provide substantial revenue to the state and could provide even more income in the future.

According to Earth Tech, a contractor for the Connecticut Service Plaza/Rest Area Study who worked with the firms Fitzgerald & Halliday, ICON, UIC, and The Williams Group, these centers make more money for the state than some would believe.

McDonald's most recent annual report shows that average annual sales at restaurants in Connecticut Service Plazas are $1.8 million.
This is almost double the annual average for McDonald's non-highway locations.

This includes revenue generated from 10 restaurants and 2 coffee shops in service plazas with food services which are located on Interstate 95 since the other highway service plazas and rest areas either have solely gas station and convenience store operations or purely consist of revenue makers which are limited to vending machines and pay phones.

In total, all restaurants and coffee shops owned by McDonald's produce annual sales of $34 million.

They are required under the current lease with the state of Connecticut, the owner of the land they are located on, to pay a rent of 18 percent of annual sales.

While McDonald's performs basic maintenance operations for these facilities, they do not invest capital into making building improvements such as interior renovations, building additions, or exterior changes to the properties.

McDonald's is currently the largest lease holder of most of Connecticut's highway service plazas while Exxon Mobil is the second largest lease holder.

Total gross sales of master concessions were $41 million.

84% of total sales were attributable to fast food while the other comes from non-fuel sales at gas stations and convenience stores, gift shops, and vending machines.

When calculating all sales together, Earth Tech found each service plaza unit has average annual sales of $3.4 million and an average size of 10,000 square feet.