Miami-based Westar Oil Co. sold four branded gas stations for about $11 million — and the buyer immediately flipped them for $15 million.
The ultimate buyer of the gas stations is Ernest M. Cherry Jr. and his wife, Carole, of Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, according to records. The deal includes the gas station at 715 Opa-Locka Boulevard near Golden Glades, one at 2195 Northwest 103rd Street in Miami and two Hialeah gas stations, at 790 East 25th Street and 1901 West 4th Avenue.
Cherry owns Aqua Systems, a small manufacturer of heat exchangers for homes, pools, ships and other uses, according to the company’s website.
Westar initially sold the stations on Dec. 30 to Trinity Petro, a company associated with the Martorano family. The company lists offices in Boynton Beach and Middletown, Delaware, according to records. The sellers were companies associated with John Obando and Ruben Gonzales of Westar Oil Co.
That same day, Trinity Petro sold the properties to the Cherrys for an extra $4 million.
The Cherrys then leased the West 4th Avenue site back to Trinity Petro for 180 months, or 15 years, with four 60-month extension possibilities, according to records.
Trinity Petro, in turn, leased space at that location to Kambiz LLC — which already owns the convenience store and ancillary businesses at that location — until Dec. 31, 2025.
Last year, U-Haul announced a new location at the West 4th Avenue location run by Kambiz, according to a release from the time. Kambiz is run by Kitssy Munoz and Gilberto Garay.
The Westar affiliates acquired the stations between 2001 and 2017 for about $3 million, records show. The oldest of the buildings was constructed in the 1950s.
Gas stations’ convenience stores were allowed to stay open for pick-up and delivery during the earliest days of stay-at-home orders last year in Miami-Dade County.
Other retail real estate sales in the area include a boat and water sports products store paying $5.5 million for a former Fort Lauderdale car dealership, and Raanan Katz’s real estate company RK Centers paying $11.5 million for a Best Buy-leased building in Plantation.