Building and developing in Des Moines are nothing Kline and Walters went into blind; both grew up in Des Moines and have family in the residential building business.  Kline grew up in Des Moines and attended the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa.  After college he returned to Des Moines and like other members of the Kline family, he went to work for Iowa Realty.  Kline started as a broker and fell in love with the residential construction business.

Like many young executives, Kline found a mentor in a more experienced builder and developer group, John R. Grubb and John W. Grubb.  After gaining the Grubb account, the Grubbs put Kline in charge of small developments as the project manager. Within years, Kline was on his own, bidding for land for his own development project when he met Walters.

Walters is a graduate of Nova University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Drake University School of Law in Des Moines. Even before graduating from law school, Walters worked with a family member to found Walters Homes, Ltd., a residential building company which has built over 300 homes. Walters left the building industry for several years to operate a factory-authorized dealership for Rolls Royce, Lamborghini, Lotus and Excalibur automobiles in Broward County, Florida. Randy returned to his love of home building in 1988 to begin Walters Development Company, Ltd. and Walters Properties.

Together, John C. Kline and Randy Walters have formed a partnership that is dedicated to doing what it takes to produce the best developments and communities possible. Randy said, "I want to take my children and grandchildren through the areas The Oaks Development Company has developed and make them proud."