An aerial view shows the Nova Southeastern University building at 3650 Colonial Court in Fort Myers. Real estate investor Ben Mallah purchased the 60,305-square-foot office and classroom building for $17.25 million.
A YouTube real estate personality with more than 1 million followers has brought his tax-deferring investment strategy to Fort Myers, purchasing the land and building occupied by Nova Southeastern University.
Ben Mallah, owner of Equity Management Partners, a real estate investment company based in Largo, paid $17.25 million for the 60,305-square-foot office and classroom building at 3650 Colonial Court, at the southeast quadrant of Interstate 75 and Colonial Boulevard.
Justin Thibaut and Hunter Ward of LSI Companies represented the seller, Colonial Interstate Investments, which paid $1.3 million for the then-undeveloped land in October 2004. The building was completed in 2008.
Ari Ravi of RIPCO Real Estate represented Mallah’s company.
“It’s a beautiful property,” Mallah said. “We’re happy with it.”
Real estate investor Ben Mallah has amassed more than 1 million followers on YouTube, where he shares investment strategies and property acquisitions. Mallah recently purchased the Nova Southeastern University building in Fort Myers.
Nova Southeastern University will remain in place as a tenant and continue operating there.
“We’re not developers,” Mallah said. “We don’t develop the properties. We take things that just need somebody to come in and bring them back to life. Luckily, with this asset, Nova needs very little. It was just a good investment.
“It’s a nonprofit school. We definitely need more nurses and (physician assistants) in this world.”
Mallah’s company recently sold two other properties. It sold a BJ’s Wholesale Club in the Jacksonville area for $13.5 million and Tampa Bay Center, an open-air shopping center near Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, for $37.7 million.
Mallah wanted to find a tax shelter for the combined $50.3 million. By purchasing the Nova Southeastern building, he deferred part of the capital gains taxes through a 1031 exchange.
The term 1031 refers to the section of the Internal Revenue Service code governing such exchanges.
Mallah said his company is scheduled to close on a Fort Myers-area multifamily housing complex by the end of June to complete the exchange.
“The only game we play is Monopoly,” Mallah said.
Ben Mallah discusses one of his real estate holdings in a video posted to his YouTube channel. The investor recently acquired the Nova Southeastern University building in Fort Myers as part of a 1031 exchange.
Mallah operates his business using the BRRRR method: buy, rehabilitate, rent, refinance and repeat.
“We felt really good about the project,” Mallah said of the university building. “We have a great tenant. We toured the building. It’s in excellent condition. We felt it would be a great asset.”
Thibaut said 1031 exchange transactions are more common than many people realize.
“It’s not known unless it’s shared by the person who’s doing the exchange that that’s what they’re doing. We do quite a few,” Thibaut said. “With them comes another layer of complexity to the deal. A lot of folks, especially when they’re moving money from other states into Florida, they’re placing funds from somewhere else.
“It’s something utilized by professional real estate folks and more often than not, those with pretty substantial real estate holdings.”
Mallah said his real estate holdings are worth between $400 million and $500 million.
“Basically, if it weren’t for the 1031, I probably never in my life would have grown to the level we’re at,” Mallah said. “If you sell a property and you have gains on that property, you can defer the tax on your gain, which is approximately 20%. If you make a million bucks, you’ve got to pay the government $200,000. Instead, we don’t touch the money. We roll the money into the next deal. Then everybody wins. It’s worked really well for our family.”
Ben Mallah appears in a video produced for his YouTube channel, which focuses on commercial real estate investing and property acquisitions. Mallah said the channel helps educate aspiring investors while documenting his deals.
Mallah said he will return to Fort Myers soon to close on the second deal and film a future YouTube video. He has posted more than 500 videos since launching the @BenMallah channel six years ago. Most videos run 20 to 30 minutes. More than a dozen have surpassed 1 million views.
Titles include “My $90 Million Shopping Spree” and “How to Buy an Apartment Complex Part I.”
Mallah, 60, grew up in New York City, joined the Army and relocated to Florida in 2003, when he began his real estate career.
“The YouTube channel was just something somebody approached me with a few years ago,” Mallah said. “As corny as it may sound, I’m helping people. I came from the worst neighborhoods. I came from nothing. I’m not highly educated. I try to encourage everybody. Real estate should be a part of your life. It may not be the focus of your life, but it should play some role in your life. We enjoy helping people. We get a kick out of it. We’re not corporate. We’re just regular people. I get a lot of good feedback from it.”
Mallah said the channel also generates revenue.
“There’s definitely some streaming revenue,” he said. “I get calls from 20-year-olds who are just starting out. They’re able to learn. We like helping people.”
