A NEW CHAPTER IN ORLANDO'S HISTORY

Plenty of movers and shakers — from both the public and private sectors — share credit for the development's unprecedented success.

By Randy Noles

Driving through the Lake Nona area today, it’s hard to imagine that the first time we published a Medical City special report, most of the facilities you’ll see on the following pages hadn’t even broken ground. What a difference a few years can make.

Plenty of movers and shakers — from both the public and private sectors — share credit for the development’s unprecedented success. But 20 years from now, a man named Joe Lewis should be ranked right alongside Walt Disney as the individual who has done the most, albeit in very different ways, to reshape Central Florida.

If you haven’t heard of Lewis, you aren’t alone. The British billionaire is the principal owner of Tavistock Group, a private investment company with interests in more than 200 firms nationwide.

Lewis, who keeps a low profile locally, has an incredible back story. He left school at 15 to help his father run Tavistock Banqueting, a London catering company. He later owned a West End nightclub called Hanover Grand, where, ironically, he gave Robert Earl his first job. Earl would later found Hard Rock Café and Planet Hollywood.

After selling his family business some 30 years ago, Lewis founded the Tavistock Group. One of its subsidiaries, Lake Nona Property Holdings, owns Lake Nona Golf & Country Club and the land on which Medical City is taking shape. (Tavistock is also the developer of Isleworth, inarguably Central Florida’s most exclusive address).

Tavistock was instrumental in laying the groundwork for Medical City through its donations of land and cash, its work with local planning and economic development organizations, and its significant investments in life-sciences companies.

If that weren’t enough, the company has bolstered its corporate citizenship with an array of philanthropic efforts. The annual Tavistock Cup golf tournament, for example, has raised millions for such recipients as the MD Anderson Cancer Center Orlando, The First Tee, Tavistock Scholars and the Orlando Minority Youth Golf Association.

Thanks in large part to Joe Lewis and his partners, it’s an exciting time to be living in Central Florida. After reading this special report, I think you’ll agree.