About Us

Since founding Advantes Group in 2009, Brian has led our company’s real estate portfolio growth and expansion through strategic redevelopment and community engagement. He prides himself on being involved in all aspects of the project life cycle, with the various company divisions and employees, ensuring viability and success for every project.

Since co-founding Advantes Group in 2009 with her husband, Gretchen has taken a hands-on approach to co-lead our team and clients alike. She remains an active force in the design aspect of development, in addition to overseeing property management as an active real estate agent. Gretchen’s commitment to sustainable development, redeveloping underutilized properties and building a strong business is shared by all Advantes employees, who follow Brian and Gretchen’s lead for transforming overlooked, underestimated locations into thriving communities.

Cindy is the primary person for many matters internal to Advantes Group. Some of her many roles include: human resources, legal support and software systems administration. She loves working with a company that is making a difference in the city of St. Louis and preserving history. Her teammates are the reason she comes to work each day! When she’s not working, Cindy loves to spend time with her husband and two girls exploring and traveling.

Jasmina manages the entire Advantes Group residential portfolio and works closely with construction on new properties coming online. She handles pre-leasing, leasing, marketing, residential satisfaction and manages all portfolio contracts for property maintenance sub-contractors. She is responsible for ensuring that the exteriors and interiors of all our properties, including rental units, are in perfect condition. Jasmina is a proud wife and mom to two beautiful babies. In her "free" time she loves to cook, taste new foods, travel and create memorable experiences for her family.

As the Maintenance Director, Alan is hands on in all aspects of property maintenance at Advantes.  In addition to working on completed buildings to keep them in top shape, Alan works hand in hand with our construction team to ensure quality builds that prevent problems down the road.  Alan takes pride in everything he does and is our go-to for anything needed to keep the units in great shape and construction moving along.  Alan enjoys spending time with his family and watching his son take to the skies as a small craft pilot!

As Design Project Manager, Adrienne works in all phases of Advantes Group business. On the development side she designs and details of upcoming projects, and manages the initial phases of the historic tax process. On the construction side she reviews and issues construction contracts, and works with field crews to navigate changes needed due to historic anomalies. After construction she works with the Property Management team for marketing materials, and potential retail tenants for the design and build out of their spaces. Outside of work, Adrienne loves spending time with family and friends and traveling to new places. 

Jacob is responsible for the financing of our projects, from idea to inception through closing and construction. He oversees our construction division and ensures that we are in compliance with all financing, economic incentive, and governmental regulations and requirements. Throughout his career he has led or supported business retention and expansion projects that have resulted in more than 6,575 jobs created/retained, and $575M in new capital investment. He has also secured more than $8.25M in various state and local economic incentives for office, retail, industrial and multi-family properties. 

James receives and processes all rental property invoices and corporate invoices, and pays them when authorized by our management. He works closely with the Property Management staff to ensure that invoices match work and services requested.

Kitty assists the Senior Project Accountant and Project Cost Coordinator to get draws put together. She updates W-9 and COI information, along with vendor set up. She also works with vendors and subs on their billings for draws, takes on special projects and enters construction invoices into the accounting program.

Christopher manages the financial side of our ongoing developments, along with maintaining overall project budgets. He prepares and submits construction draws to lenders/investors for ongoing projects. He is passionate about seeing the whole project cycle, from conception to completion.

Ayanna enjoys the responsibility overseeing all projects, from purchase to management of properties. She shares in the great pride the Advantes team takes in our properties, and in providing a great place to live for the tenants. She believes her customer service and communications skills, along with her knowledge of the current market, allow her to better gauge potential tenants’ needs and to match each tenant with a place to call home that fits all their needs.

Originally from upstate New York, Jason has lived all over the United States. He moved to the St. Louis area a little over a year ago, and is now the Maintenance Technician for the Advantes team. Jason is a self-described jack-of-all-trades who enjoys tinkering and fixing things. His hobbies include woodworking/carpentry, riding his bicycle, Jiujitsu, camping and too many other things to list.

Kestulis is tasked with providing a safe and secure environment for tenants and staff members and responsible with ensuring company properties are protected from all threats through constant surveillance and a diligent presence. This is possible through a consistent communication with our local law enforcement to ensure our properties to be one of the safest and most welcoming places to live in the city of St. Louis.