OUR TEAM
James D. Campbell
A co-founding principal of Somerset Development, Mr. Campbell leads the company in identifying, analyzing, and packaging the financing of Somerset’s real estate development portfolio valued at $400 million with over 2,270 multi-family residential units with retail units and new community buildings. He has expertise in forging public-private partnerships and affordable housing development, including Low Income Housing Tax Credits, Historic and New Markets Tax Credits, and federal, state, and local housing finance.
Prior to starting Somerset, Mr. Campbell served for eight years at the AFL-CIO Investments Trusts, primarily as the Chief Investment Officer. The Investment Trusts consist of two co-mingled real estate investment funds: the Housing Investment Trust and the Building Investment Trust. Together the Trusts invested approximately $1 billion of pension capital per year in new housing and commercial real estate projects.
Prior to joining the Trusts, Mr. Campbell was Vice President for Development for Related Companies Northeast, a private developer of housing in the Boston area. Mr. Campbell has managed economic and housing developments for city and state governments; among them, the highly successful $1 billion, mixed-use redevelopment of the East Cambridge Riverfront. He has served as the executive Director of a non-profit community development corporation. Mr. Campbell has a Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning from Harvard University.
Ziad Maalouf
A co-founding principal of Somerset Culinary Concepts (SCC,) Ziad Maalouf leads the company in strategic planning overseeing operations, budgeting, concept development, site selection and construction. He has over 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry with a major focus of cost control and profitability.
Prior to starting SCC, Ziad Maalouf owned and operated the highly popular Café Ole, in Tenleytown. It recently closed after 20 successful years for a building redevelopment project. He worked with the late Jean Louis Palladin as Director of Purchasing/Food Beverage Cost Controller/Operations Analyst.
He then was the Project Manager and Purchasing Director at the St Regis Hotel, where he headed up a $20 million dollar hotel renovation and a $5 million dollar budget to open Lespinasse. He has also consulted for several restaurant openings in both the Washington, DC ,and Detroit, MI areas. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from Sacred Heart College.
Under the direction of Ziad Maalouf, SCC opened Café Fili in Baltimore, MD 3 rd quarter 2017, The Tilted Row in 2 nd quarter 2019 and Café Filí in DC, 4 th quarter 2019.
Jane leads the company in operational analysis, IT, Marketing and HR. She has over 40 years of experience in the hospitality industry with a major focus on technology planning and implementation along with operational analysis. Prior to working with SCC she co-founded and managed Café Ole in Tenleytown. She worked for Vie de France Yamazaki managing IT for the restaurant division, the Renaissance Hotel as Systems Analyst and Arltec, Inc as director of MIS for 5 local Sheraton hotels. She has a Bachelor’s Degree from Florida state in Hospitality Administration.
Nancy L. Hooff
A co-founding principal of Somerset Development Company, Ms. Hooff leads the company in overseeing pre-development planning and budgeting, design, construction administration, asset management and resident services. With a portfolio valued at $429 million with over 1,750 multi-family residential units, retail spaces and community buildings, the company specializes in revitalizing communities in underserved areas through the use of public-private financing, historic preservation and partnerships with tenant associations, local businesses, and non-profit entities.
Prior to starting Somerset, Ms. Hooff worked in the field of development economics, housing and community development, municipal finance and local government in the international arena for 15 years as a Foreign Service Officer and contractor with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Ms. Hooff managed USAID’s programs in local government, democracy, urban development and housing for Eastern Europe and the countries of the former Soviet Union. This work included overseeing housing guarantee funds and the development of municipal finance systems.
She also served in Mauritania, Tunisia, Guatemala, and provided technical and program support services to other countries of Central America. Prior to joining USAID, Ms. Hooff was founder and principal of a business consulting firm in West Africa. She has a Master’s Degree, with a specialization in international development economics, from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.