Kris Saddoris, vice president of development at Hubbell Realty Co., has been named the 2023 Iowa State University Ivy College of Business Real Estate Professional of the Year by the Business Record.

Saddoris has nearly 38 years of real estate development experience in the Greater Des Moines area. During her career, she has had major roles in the creation of over 100 multifamily communities in Iowa, 56 of which were low-income housing developments.

Saddoris joined Conlin Properties Inc. in 1985. It was at the development and property management company that she learned about property management and multifamily housing development, including affordable housing, she said.

In 2011 she joined Hubbell Realty, where she’s overseen the development of a variety of projects including multifamily, single-family rental, 55+ active living, senior housing, urban downtown neighborhoods and industrial. Saddoris’ leadership “has been invaluable thanks to her decades of local, regional and national market insights, dedication to real estate development in Central Iowa as well as a commitment to improving her community,” Rick Tollakson, president and CEO of Hubbell Realty, wrote in a nomination letter.

Among the projects Saddoris has shepherded is Gray’s Station, an 84-acre, $250 million urban neighborhood under development by Hubbell at Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway and Southwest 11th Street. The development, which includes apartments, townhouses, condominiums, single-family residences, restaurants and other businesses, is expected to be completed in about 12 years. Hubbell expects more than 3,000 people to eventually live in the urban neighborhood, which will have about 1,200 residences.

“It’s not about creating that 1,200-square-foot house that has two bathrooms,” Saddoris said recently. It’s about “visualizing sitting on your rooftop with your friends, with a glass of wine and watching the fireworks at the [Iowa] Cubs on a Friday night in August. … It’s not about the box but how you live there and connect with the spaces and other people who live there.”

Saddoris was among a small group of women who in 2012 were members of the first board of directors of Commercial Real Estate Women in Iowa. She has been active with the group over the past decade. This year, she is a co-leader of CREW’s Iowa Affinity Group, which provides opportunities for CREW members to build relationships with others with similar expertise areas.

Saddoris “lives by CREW’s motto ‘Lift as you rise,’” wrote Siobhan Harman, a CREW member, in a nomination letter. Saddoris “supports the careers of others in the commercial real estate industry through her passion for the industry and volunteerism,” wrote Harman, a senior consultant for acquisitions and dispositions at Principal Asset Management.

Saddoris is also active in the community. She is board president of Home Inc., a nonprofit affordable housing developer and service provider. The group recently built an accessory dwelling unit demonstration project in Des Moines. She is also a board member for Midwest Housing Development Fund, a cabinet member of Pro Iowa Soccer, and a member of the Greater Des Moines Partnership Development Council.

The 2023 Real Estate Professional of the Year award will be presented at the Business Record’s Commercial Real Estate Forum, which will be held from 7 to 9 a.m. April 19 at the Sheraton West Des Moines Hotel, 1800 50th St., West Des Moines. To register for the event, click here.

More about Saddoris will be included in the May 5 issue of the Business Record.

Previous CRE Professional of the Year recipients include Gerry Neugent of Knapp Properties, Rick Tollakson of Hubbell Realty Co., Richard Hurd of Hurd Real Estate Services, Jake Christensen of Christensen Development, Jennifer Cooper of Bankers Trust Co., Kevin Crowley of NAI Iowa Realty Commercial, Mark Rupprecht of R&R Realty Group and Brad Schoenfelder of Ryan Cos. US Inc.