With almost three decades of experience in real estate development and homebuilding under his belt, Steven Vliss founded Highpointe Communities in 1997 to take advantage of the burgeoning opportunities in residential real estate land development in a newly invigorated Southern California marketplace.

Mr. Vliss began his real estate development career in 1979 and in 1983 joined INCO Homes, a publicly traded California homebuilder, where he rose to the post of senior vice president and chief operating officer. He then joined Kaufman & Broad as president of its Homebuilding and Development Division for Orange County and the Inland Empire Region of Southern California. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Building Industry Association.

A Southern California native, Mr. Vliss attended the University of California, Irvine, and California State University, Fullerton, before beginning his real estate development career.  Email

Leading the entitlement processing and engineering operations at Highpointe Communities is cofounder Steve Ludwig. He is responsible for all phases of entitlement processing, as well as construction management for all site improvements. Active in land development since 1978, Mr. Ludwig was senior executive at INCO Homes, serving first as vice president of land development and later as president of the company's High Desert Division in Southern California. He also worked for Ludwig Engineering as principal engineer and director of planning, before establishing LDS Consulting in 1995 to counsel homebuilders and developers on acquisition and due diligence issues.

Mr. Ludwig received a B.S. in Business Administration from Iowa State University with a major in Business Management and a minor in construction engineering. A registered civil engineer since 1986, he was vice president of government affairs for the local Building Industry Association from 1994 - 1998, and served on its Board of Directors for ten years.  Email

Timothy D. England has over 20 years experience in real estate development, finance and accounting. Mr. England began his career with Kenneth Leventhal & Company (CPA's), a real estate industry specialist and became a Certified Public Accountant in 1989 (Certificate No. 51973E). For the next ten years, Mr. England served in various positions with Brookfield Development Corporation, including serving as VP and Chief Financial Officer of their U.S. Western Region. For four years prior to joining Highpointe Communities, Mr. England served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for the Polygon Group of Companies. There he was responsible for the company's financing and investor relation's activities as well as overseeing several operating entities and joint venture investments. Mr. England has worked on over one billion dollars in financing transactions including corporate lines of credit, acquisition, development, and construction loans for commercial and residential projects, community facility and other assessment districts and bonding lines.

Mr. England received his B.S. degree in Business Administration from California State University, Fullerton in 1984.  Email

Dave Kinnett has over 25 years experience in residential real estate development and construction and for the past 11 years served as a prinicipal for Pinnacle Communities, a mid-sized private homebuilder with sales of between 200-300 homes per annum. Mr Kinnett has had primary oversight in the delivery of over 3,000 homes in Southern California. His primary duties included operations, land development and home construction. During his tenure the Pinnacle group achieved annual revenues in excess of $200 million.

Dave Kinnett's field construction experience, coupled with his finance and business education, forge a unique set of skills that allow him to manage complex development operations with a focus on bottom-line profitability. Dave Kinnett's real estate expertise includes financial analysis, cost estimating, due diligence/feasibility, offsite/onsite design and engineering, project/construction scheduling and management, government processing and permitting, purchasing, subcontractor management and bidding, bond implementation/exoneration and consultant management. Dave Kinnett has developed projects in over 30 jurisdictions, is a licensed California General Contractor, and holds a degree in Finance and Business Economics from USC.

Kraig Kilger brings to Highpointe 13 years of experience as legal counsel to a broad array of real estate developers, builders and financial institutions. Mr. Kilger was formerly a partner with the law firm of Rutan & Tucker, LLP, one of the oldest and most prestigious law firms in California. Prior to joining Highpointe as one of its principals, Mr. Kilger had been Highpointe’s legal counsel since the company’s inception. Mr. Kilger’s experience includes acting both as legal counsel and as a business advisor in connection with a multitude of residential, commercial and mixed use projects, including several master planned communities. Mr. Kilger also has significant experience with joint venture partnerships and all forms of debt and equity arrangements. Prior to practicing law, Mr. Kilger was an accountant with Price Waterhouse.

Mr. Kilger received his B.A. in Economics and Business from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1988, and his Law Degree from the University of California at Davis in 1992.   Email