John S. Ross is CEO and Managing Partner of Summit Real Estate Group, headquartered in St. Louis with offices in New York City and Houston.
Mr. Ross began his career in commercial real estate in 1985 and founded Summit in 1995. Since its inception, Summit has developed, acquired and operated roughly 14 million square feet of industrial and retail investments valued at more than $2 billion.
In 2005, Mr. Ross formed Cushman & Wakefield | Gateway Commercial after acquiring the St. Louis Cushman & Wakefield branch office, which he later sold to Colliers International. Mr. Ross also serves on the Board of Directors of Parkside Bank & Trust. He is a member of YPO and CEO.
Mr. Ross’s philanthropic focus has been on helping address the economic vitality of the St. Louis metropolitan area, impoverished in our region, and education and care for children. In 2022, he founded Mission Realty Advisors (MRA) and currently serves as its Chairman. MRA focuses on providing real estate services to needy not for profits in the St. Louis region as well as addressing some of the largest real estate and economic development challenges in the St. Louis metropolitan area.
He helped found the Hawthorn Leadership School for Girls (a charter school) in 2015 and previously served on the Board of Directors of Churchill Center & School, which he chaired from 2007-2010, in addition to numerous other board and leadership positions.
Mr. Ross holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of Colorado Boulder.
