Lake Nona Performance Club in Orlando, the nation's preeminent health and wellness facility, opened with a VIP event earlier this summer; and the legal team at BMD has been looking forward to this culmination for the past five years.

A Crucial Connection. It all started when BMD CEO Jack Diamond invited BMD and Signet LLC Chairman Tony Manna to a Cleveland Indians game in 2016, resulting in a chance introduction to another real estate group. A fruitful conversation about ideas and opportunities followed, and the seed for Lake Nona Performance Center was planted. As legal counsel for Signet, BMD represented the joint venture with Signet for the Lake Nona Performance Center deal, assisting in the overall structure, tax planning and financing. BMD's legal team includes Co-Managing Partner Lee Walko and M&A Attorney Kevin Saunders, as well as Finance and Real Estate Member Jason Butterworth and Commercial Real Estate, M&A and Corporate Attorney Nick Karam who represent Integrated Wellness Partners, a healthcare operating management solution.

Superior Deal Knowledge. A significant project in many ways, BMD was the lead in putting together the deal for the number one, in complexity and size, largest health and wellness facility in the country - in one of the healthiest and fastest-growing communities in America. BMD's niche deal knowledge and healthcare industry expertise made the firm perfectly suited to manage an unprecedented project involving exceptionally sophisticated investors, partners, and clientele. Further, BMD's experience allowed them to successfully navigate the challenges presented by a pandemic and were able to maintain the facility's groundbreaking date of March 31, 2020.

The Buzz. So much more than a high-end fitness facility - Lake Nona Performance Center is also home to a collective of physicians, experts, rehab specialists and counselors. The buzz in the medical and wellness community is palpable, and medical groups across the country are contacting BMD and its project partners for insight into the planning and completion of this one-of-a-kind wellness facility. An adjoining building for medical offices (a non-BMD project) is scheduled to break ground this fall.

Who is BMD? Brennan Manna Diamond is an entrepreneurial business law firm with eight offices and over 80 attorneys across the country. BMD is a firm poised for growth, opening its Orlando and Phoenix/Scottsdale offices in 2020. Additional offices include Bonita Springs and Jacksonville, Florida; Akron, Canton, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, as well as a south-central US location opening this fall. As a testament to its innovative spirit, businesses and entrepreneurs look to BMD for counsel because they know its lawyers understand the industries in which they operate, the markets that they serve, in addition to the opportunities and challenges they face - because BMD was founded by entrepreneurs.

BMD serves clients in a wide variety of industries and business sectors, including, but not limited to Banking and Finance, Business and Corporate, Cybersecurity and Privacy Law, Design and Construction, Employment and Labor, Government Affairs and Public Law, Healthcare and Hospital Law, Immigration, IP, Litigation, M&A, Real Estate, Tax, Estate and Asset Protection and Family Wealth Management.

BMD's Orlando office includes Managing Partner Robert Lee, a corporate, real estate, financing and international law attorney focusing on representation of public, closely-held and middle-market, multinational and emerging growth companies in corporate and commercial matters, joint ventures, M&A, real estate transactions, secured loan transactions, securities offerings, business start-ups and more. Robert has served as a member of the New Hope for Kids Board and the Florida Hospital Foundation Board. He served as Chairman of both the National U.S. Hong Kong Business Association and the City of Orlando Minority and Women Enterprises Certification Board, and has gladly served many professional and civic organizations in and around Orlando. Robert can be reached at rqlee@bmdpl.com.

Also practicing in BMD's Orlando office is Member Scott Rost, a Florida Bar Certified Business Litigation lawyer who has represented clients for over 30 years in commercial and real estate litigation, residential and commercial real estate property and corporate transactions, and other business and personal concerns throughout the State of Florida. Scott is admitted to the state and federal courts, and practices before administrative and arbitral bodies as well. In 2021, Scott was elected as President of the Florida Supreme Court Historical Society. Scott Rost can be reached at srrost@bmdpl.com.

Joining Robert and Scott in Orlando is Attorney Omar Carmona, a bilingual attorney licensed to practice in Florida and Puerto Rico. Omar's practice is focused on international law, immigration, estate planning and bankruptcy, and he has extensive experience in contested family law matters. With respect to his international practice, he devotes a substantial portion of his time assisting both businesses and individuals establishing or relocating to the United States. Omar is a member and past ambassador for the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Orlando. Omar Carmona can be reached at ocarmona@bmdpl.com.

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