KANSAS CITY—Hunt Midwest has just promoted its president Ora Reynolds to president and chief executive officer effective immediately. The move comes after the Kansas City-based, privately held real estate developer, best known for SubTropolis, its mammoth underground business park, earned record-setting profits in 2014.

“Ora has earned this distinction based on her outstanding performance as the leader of Hunt Midwest,” says company chairman Lee Derrough. He credits Reynolds, a Chicago-native who joined the company in 1991, with growing and diversifying its development business. “Ora has assembled an excellent team of professionals that is motivated and dedicated to making our company grow and be successful in all phases of our business. That has translated into a significant increase in company value for our owners.”

“Our team is focused on expanding into new real estate niches while continuing to grow Hunt Midwest's core business at SubTropolis,” Reynolds says. “Our footprint has expanded from primarily industrial and residential lot development into mission critical, multifamily, senior living, residential and mixed-use development.”

In 2014, Hunt added 900,000 square feet of leased space to SubTropolis, located in the bluffs above the Missouri River in Kansas City, bringing it to a total of six million. The company built this unique space through the mining of a 270 million-year-old limestone deposit. Tenants take advantage of the mine's naturally occurring year-round temperature of between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit and typically cut energy costs by 50% to 70%. In 2012, SubTropolis earned a perfect ENERGY STAR energy performance rating of 100 from the EPA.

As reported in GlobeSt.com, in 2014 FoodServiceWarehouse.com, an e-commerce company that provides foodservice equipment and supplies, signed a ten-year lease to occupy 475,200 square feet of new warehousing and distribution space in SubTropolis, making it the region's largest build-to-suit. Furthermore, Ford upfitter Leggett & Platt Commercial Vehicle Products leased 72,000 square feet, and the National Archives and Records Administration tripled its footprint, adding 202,000 square feet for a total of 304,000 square feet.

After a series of other promotions, Reynolds was named president of Hunt Midwest Real Estate Development in 2010. And in 2014, she assumed the title of president, Hunt Midwest Enterprises.

“I cannot begin to express my gratitude to the Hunt family for giving me an incredible opportunity 23 years ago,” Reynolds says. “At that time, I could not have envisioned the personal and professional path ahead. I look forward to maximizing our business for years to come.”