MZ Real Estate Investments in Fresno is adding more to its roster of services – fuel contracts. Brothers Joe and Fred Martinez and brother-in-law Steve Zabarsky specialize in buying and selling gas stations and truck stops. It’s a niche market the men found themselves in five years ago when Zabarsky suggested they get into the real estate business.
Their first investment was the Fifth Wheel Truck Stop on Golden State Boulevard, just west of Chestnut Avenue, which cost nearly $2 million, Joe Martinez said. The company put about $175,000 of light rehab into the property and worked on pulling customers back. “Our basic business model was to find distressed commercial businesses and find a way to add value to it,” Joe Martinez said. The truck stop was recently appraised for $6.5 million, he said.
Now, MZ Real Estate is working with developers nationwide to find retail, office and multifamily development opportunities in cities such as Atlanta, Miami, St. Louis and San Francisco. And new partnerships with oil refineries in Texas allow the company to work with clients who need fuel contracts. A new petroleum division is being added to the company, Martinez said.
“It was natural for us to get into the gas because we understand the different types of fuel out there,” Martinez said. “That’s a new part of our business that we’re excited about.”
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