Paul Kavka (left) and Matthew Stephens have joined Kokes Properties as a project manager and a vice president of development, respectively. — Courtesy: Kokes Properties
By Joshua Burd
Kokes Properties has expanded its development and construction team with the addition of two veteran industry executives.
The Brielle-based firm announced Monday that it has hired Matthew Stephens as vice president of development and Paul Kavka as project manager. They will help shape entitlement and construction projects for the company led by third-generation developer Michael J. Kokes.
“Bringing Matt and Paul on board bolsters our team’s entitlements and project management,” said Kokes, the firm’s founder and president. “Their years of solid expertise, reputations and industry contacts strengthen Kokes Properties’ real estate development mission as the size and scope of our projects increase.”
Stephens, who has more than 15 years of industry experience, has spent the past five years as a senior project manager at Toll Brothers, according to a news release. In that role, he oversaw construction, sales and marketing of Toll communities, including the company’s largest in New Jersey.
During that period, Stephens earned a master of engineering degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the news release said. He also spent 10 years building custom homes at the Jersey Shore.
Kavka, meantime, is a licensed professional engineer in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, bringing years of experience overseeing project design, permitting, approvals and construction coordination. His tenure in the industry has focused on site planning, civil engineering design, project management and construction.
Kokes also noted that Kavka has spent years with design firms including DW Smith Associates, PS&S and Gladstone Design Inc., where he was a partner, the news release said. He graduated from the New Jersey Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s in civil engineering.
