Trustees
John Ritter
Chairman & CEO
Focus Property Group
Focus Property Group Chairman and CEO John A. Ritter has been licensed and actively involved in the real estate industry for more than 24 years, predominantly in Southern Nevada. Specializing in acquiring vacant land throughout the southwest region of the country, Mr. Ritter has led the accumulation of a portfolio with a valuation of approximately $2 billion. The company’s current projects total more than 13,500 acres in Las Vegas and throughout the Southwest, and his company has been involved in transactions exceeding $6 billion since its inception. The company’s portfolio includes approximately 30,000 residential lots along with commercial and mixed use property.
Mr. Ritter made a national name for Focus Property Group by dominating the BLM land auction process established by the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act, winning four straight auctions of major land parcels from 2002 to 2005. These master planned communities in Southern Nevada include the 3,500-acre Mountain’s Edge in the southwest part of the valley, the 1,200-acre Providence in the northwest, the 1,953-acre Inspirada development in Henderson (purchased and developed with a consortium of seven leading homebuilders) and most recently the 1,710-acre Kyle Gateway Project (purchased and developed with a consortium of eight national and local homebuilders). All of these communities have become reality through Ritter’s successful bidding strategy at the BLM land auctions. Additionally, the company is creating The Crossings, a 450-acre master plan in the city of Victorville, Calif., a 950-acre master plan with a working title of The Gateway at the entrance to Pahrump Valley, Nev., and a 70-acre commercial site in Denver.
Mr. Ritter brings to all Focus Property Group ventures extensive and comprehensive knowledge in investment, finance, government relations, development trends, municipal zoning, planning and development. Through his years of developing land in Southern Nevada, Ritter has created strong working relationships with federal, state and local governmental entities from staff through elected officials.
Mr. Ritter has served on a number of local planning boards, including the Southern Nevada Water Authority Integrated Water Planning Advisory Committee and the Financial Subcommittee, the Northwest General Plan Update Steering Committee, the Spring Valley Land Use Guide Focus Group, the Enterprise Land Use Plan Advisory Group, and the Beltway Taskforce.
Additionally, Ritter serves on the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s Water Conservation Coalition, the board of the Lied Children’s Discovery Museum, the Las Vegas Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, is a member of the UNLV Foundation Board of Trustees and is a member of the inaugural Nevada Cancer Institute Foundation Board.
Mr. Ritter and his significant other, Hilary Westrom, are active philanthropists and established the Ritter Charitable Trust in 2002, a supporting organization to the Nevada Community Foundation, for the support of children and families in need in Southern Nevada. For more information on the Ritter Charitable Trust or a list of charities the Trust supports, please visit www.rittertrust.com.