Keith Lesser and Michel Ochs
By Joshua Burd
Hollister Construction Services has bolstered its ranks in two key positions.
In a news release, the Parsippany-based firm announced this week that Keith H. Lesser has been hired as vice president of predevelopment and design. Meantime, Michael A. Ochs has joined the firm as general counsel.
“We recognize that our success depends on our personnel, and one of our key goals has been to build the best team in the industry,” Hollister CEO Chris Johnson said in a prepared statement. “Keith and Michael bring enormous value to Hollister. They are seasoned professionals with enormous experience in the industry and we are excited to welcome them.”
In his new role, Lesser will work closely with the company’s preconstruction and delivery teams on various predevelopment and design/build assignments, the news release said. He is a licensed architect with more than 30 years of experience in both design and building technologies, specializing in higher education, research laboratories, health care, retail facilities, multifamily residential, building renovation and restoration and urban design.
Lesser joins Hollister from S & L Architecture Studio, where he served as a partner for more than 20 years. He has designed award-winning area projects such as the Wesley J. Howe Center for Technology Management at Stevens Institute of Technology, a Bloomfield College residence hall and the BME/CVMG Lab at Rutgers University.
As general counsel, Ochs will advise and represent Hollister to ensure compliance with all legal requirements, the news release said. He will support Hollister’s strategic business plan and will collaborate in corporate strategic and tactical legal initiatives.
Before joining Hollister, Ochs spent two years at Bertone Piccini L.L.P. as of counsel and three years as a partner. He was part of the strategic management team of the firm’s multistate transactional real estate practice group, while also having spent seven years at Burke & Associates L.L.C. as a real estate associate.
Lesser received a degree in architectural technology from the University of Wisconsin and a bachelor of architecture from the Pratt Institute. Ochs received his law degree from Villanova University School of Law.
