Belleair waterfront estate sells for $8.7 million
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Sep 8, 2023

A Belleair waterfront estate owned by local real estate investor Ben Mallah has sold for $8.7 million.

The nearly 12,000-square-foot home sold on Aug. 28, according to a deed filed in Pinellas County. The buyer was Steven Sembler. The sales price breaks down to roughly $726 per square foot.

Priscilla Pesce with Charles Rutenberg Realty represented the seller and Brandy Jagdmann with Engel & Völkers Belleair represented the buyer.

Mallah purchased the home in November 2021 for $7.1 million, according to the property appraiser. The estate sits on nearly two acres and has views of Sand Key, Clearwater Harbor and the Gulf of Mexico.

The home, located at 140 Willadel Drive, has six bedrooms and seven-and-a-half bathrooms and was built in 1991. It includes a fitness room and sauna and features two main suites, one on the ground floor and one on the second floor.

The property also includes a private marina, guest house, putting green, tennis courts and a cabana. The marina has a new dock with two slips and the home has a three-car garage. The circular drive has two security gates and a new roof was added in October 2022.

Mallah told the Business Journal he purchased the home as an investment property and added a new roof, seawall and dock as well as further improvements to the home itself. He spent a little more than $1 million on renovations. Mallah said he ended up selling the property for roughly $3 million less than it was originally listed.

“The whole market is turned upside down,” Mallah said. “I anticipated investing around $8 million in the house and selling it for $10 million, but that didn’t happen. It should really be worth around $11 million… Unfortunately, the market fell apart. Nothing is moving right now. I sold it basically to break even. That’s the way it goes; that’s the market.”