August 4, 2026

Bodybar Pilates Franchise Owners Select Lakeside Village For Lakeland, Florida Entry And Target Early 2027 Opening

BALTIMORE, MD (August 4, 2026) – Franchise owners Luis Diaz and Fausto Ordonez have selected Lakeside Village, a nearly 460,000 square foot super-regional lifestyle center, as the site for the first BODYBAR Pilates studio in the greater Lakeland, Florida region. The entrepreneurs signed a lease with Continental Realty Corporation (CRC) for 2,585 square feet of space at the center, located at 1489 Town Center Drive, and are currently targeting an early 2027 opening. Kristin Perry, Senior Leasing Manager, Retail Leasing for CRC, represented the landlord in this transaction.

“BODYBAR Pilates is bringing a proven low-impact, high-energy workout to Lakeland, featuring an instructor-led experience that promotes balance, flexibility, strength training, and overall wellness,” said CRC’s Kristina O’Keefe, Senior Vice President of Retail Operations. “The highly-successful franchise is the perfect complement to the tenant mix which includes like-minded concepts such as Daydreams Day Spa, Pure Barre, and Planet Smoothie, and addresses the growing demand for health and wellness options in the Lakeland community.”

According to Diaz, BODYBAR workouts go beyond traditional Pilates by combining muscular endurance, targeted intensity, and athletic training through the proprietary BODYBAR Method. BODYBAR offers seven class formats across four Pilates apparatuses. The formats include Performance, Agility, Strength, Fusion, Precision, Reset, and Balance, using the Reformer, Tower, EXO Chair, and jump board. Each format uses a distinct training strategy, and BODYBAR instructors meet members where they are in their fitness journey and challenge them to continue progressing.

While BODYBAR’s core customer demographic includes adult women, the studio is designed to foster an inclusive community for adults with different fitness backgrounds, goals, and abilities.

“BODYBAR stood out to us because it combines the strength and endurance of an athletic workout with the control, balance, and sustainability associated with Pilates,” Diaz said. “We believe Lakeland is a strong fit for BODYBAR’s Balanced, Athletic, and Real community.” Diaz works in clinical research administration and regulatory operations, while co-franchise owner Fausto Ordonez is a stroke neurologist practicing in the Lakeland area. “We selected BODYBAR because its structured Method, comprehensive instructor training, equipment variety, and community-centered model aligned with the experience we wanted to create in Lakeland,” Diaz said.

“Lakeside Village’s central location, convenient access, strong visibility, and diverse tenant mix quickly elevated the shopping center to our number one choice,” Diaz explained. “We believe its established customer base and mix of fitness, wellness, retail, and dining businesses provide an ideal setting to introduce BODYBAR Pilates to the Lakeland community.”

Lakeside Village features more than 70 tenants, is anchored by Belk, Nordstrom Rack, CMX Lakeside Village 18 & IMAX, and Books-A-Million, and is shadow-anchored by Kohl’s. Lakeside Village offers a diverse mix of uses, including entertainment, medical/healthcare, fitness, food, and beverage, as well as 46,000 square feet of Class A office space. The open-air shopping center sits on 88 acres, including over 2,000 feet of frontage on Polk Highway, which connects to I-4 and the greater metropolitan areas of Orlando and Tampa.

Founded in 1960, Continental Realty Corporation is a vertically integrated, privately held commercial real estate investment and management company specializing in the acquisition and operation of retail and multifamily properties. CRC owns and manages a diversified national portfolio of more than 10 million square feet of retail space and more than 10,000 apartment homes across 16 states, with a total value of approximately $5 billion. Guided by a commitment to excellence and long-term value creation, CRC combines market insight, disciplined investment strategies, and a people-first approach to deliver exceptional results for investors, residents, and communities.

For additional information, visit www.crcrealty.com.