ORLANDO—It all started 20 years ago with a big vision and a long journey to see that vision become a reality. That's when Tavistock Group, an international private investment organization owned by British businessman Joe Lewis, acquired the Lake Nona Golf & Country Club and about 4,000 adjoining acres in Orlando.

Over the years, Tavistock acquired another 3,000 acres of land to build what is now known as Lake Nona, a 7,000-acre master designed community with entitlements for 7 million square feet of commercial real estate space and 11,000 homes, with cutting edge technology infrastructure. Tavistock estimates the project will ultimately create 30,000 jobs.

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush called Lake Nona “one of the cornerstones of Florida's Future.” In Fortune magazine's June, 2014 cover story titled “How to Build a Great American City” it was written, “In the past decade, Tavistock…has created a thriving mini-metropolis [at Lake Nona]…one that may ultimately transform the region as much as Disney World did back in the 1970s.” And Fortune posed this question: “Is Lake Nona the future of cities—or a unique creation that can't be replicated?”