Developer Ben Mallah buys former Phillies slugger Ryan Howard's Pinellas home for $16.5 million
By Susan Taylor Martin
Tampa Bay Times
Published: Jan 27, 2018

Hotelier Ben Mallah and his wife, Karla, bought a gulf-front Belleair Shore mansion on Thursday for $16.5 million, the highest price ever paid for a residential property in the Tampa Bay area.

The nearly 20,000-square-foot home was previously owned by former Philadelphia Phillies slugger Ryan Howard.

"We just celebrated our 15th anniversary and this is her gift for 15 years of putting up with me,” said Mallah, who owns numerous hotels throughout the bay area and Florida. "She's getting two grand prizes, me and the house.”

Mallah said they had looked for about four months at all available houses along the beach before settling the one with a castle-like exterior and 200 feet of beach frontage.

When porches and balconies are included, the square footage reaches nearly 40,000 square feet.

The mansion features a two-story living room, a wine sellar that can double as an event space, a bowling alley and a pool that meanders throughout the property like a lazy river.

Mallah currently owns a bay front house and another on the beach, both of which he plans to sell. His white, red-topped Rolls Royce convertible was parked in front of the new home on Thursday while a few maintenance people did some last-minute work before the closing.

"It needs a little TLC and landscaping, but not much else,” Mallah said.

The buying agent was Rafal Wazio with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estatate. The listing agents were Jackie Diaz and Karen Hegemeier of Premier Sotheby's International Realty.

Contact Susan Taylor Martin at smartin@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8642. Follow @susanskate.