About Us.
Since 2001, Hamilton Zanze has made multifamily real estate investments with the highest standards. Our commitment and expertise deliver more than positive outcomes — we realize impact that stands the test of time.
Together with our community of investors, we can meet high expectations — leaving every investment better than we found it.
Our environmental, social, and governance initiatives enable clients to make an impact in the worlds of housing and sustainability.
With our dedicated resources for all elements of evaluating, financing, repositioning, and managing assets, our clients have access to a team with unrivaled insights.
Prior to Hamilton Zanze, Mark sponsored the acquisition, ownership, and revitalization of nearly 40 Bay Area properties. His main focus has long been finding value-add properties in urban neighborhoods and re-working them into higher-quality properties with higher incomes, improved tenant profiles, and higher resale values.
Mark has considerable experience in partnership formation and operations, project planning and implementation, asset management, landlord-tenant and rent-control issues, risk management, and zoning and building matters. Before forming his own commercial brokerage and investment business in 1994, Mark worked in the San Francisco office of Marcus & Millichap, then co-founded a small brokerage firm and investment group.
Mark earned a B.A. with High Honors in English Literature from San Francisco State University and an M.A. in English and American Literature from Brandeis University, where he attended as a University Scholar and Fellow.
Since 2016, Mark has served on the board of First Graduate, previously serving on the board of a San Francisco affordable housing development corporation.
He lives in San Francisco with his wife and dog. They enjoy family, travel, culture and the arts, and food.
Prior to Hamilton Zanze, Tony Zanze’s experience in real estate included capital markets, asset management, leasing, development, and investment and brokerage of multifamily and commercial properties.
Before HZ, Tony was with RREEF Real Estate Investment Managers overseeing asset disposition. Before joining RREEF, he was manager of the San Francisco office of GE Capital Real Estate, where he handled the production of mortgage-backed securities, structured finance, and equity investments. From 1986 to 1997, Tony was with Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, where he originated long-term fixed-rate loans and joint ventures.
Tony began his career as a sales investment broker with Cushman & Wakefield and holds a B.A. in Psychology from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. in Real Estate from the University of Wisconsin.
Kurt Houtkooper is the CEO of Hamilton Zanze (HZ), a private real estate operating company focused on multifamily assets in the greater United States. Kurt also serves as co-managing partner of Graham Street Realty (GSR) a leading regional commercial operating company focused on office and industrial buildings in the Western US. Additionally, he serves as a founding principal of Paramount Property Company (PPC), a commercial property management company, and Mission Rock Residential (MRR) a multifamily property management company.
Since joining HZ in 2003, Kurt has structured investments with an asset value of over $9 billion. HZ and GSR’s investment vehicles have invested in approximately 50,000 units and over 1,500,000 square feet of commercial space.
HZ and GSR currently have approximately $6.1 billion of assets under management on behalf of its high-net-worth clients and institutional partners. The family of companies – HZ, GSR, MRR, and PPC – has over 800 employees.
Kurt graduated from University of California, Berkeley and now lives in Marin with his wife and three daughters.
Ashlee Cabeal is a partner and Hamilton Zanze’s Chief Financial Officer. Prior to her current role, Ashlee was a senior director on the HZ Transactions team and worked on acquisition, disposition, and refinance activity, providing expertise in deal sourcing, underwriting, loan originations, and closing.
Before joining Hamilton Zanze as an intern in 2010, Ashlee worked as a senior audit associate at Pricewaterhouse Coopers. There, she focused on servicing banking clients and private equity clients before returning to school for her M.B.A.
Ashlee has a B.S. in Accounting and a B.B.A. in Marketing from Loyola Marymount University, and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Davis. She is also a Certified Public Accountant in the state of California. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, the great outdoors, and cooking.
David Nelson, President of Hamilton Zanze, serves as a partner and is the Chief Investment Officer at the firm. He leads the transactions team managing the acquisition and disposition pipeline, arranging financing, equity, and closely partnering with owners, brokers, and institutional partners to orchestrate and execute on investment opportunities and strategies. David joined Hamilton Zanze in 2004 and has played an integral role in the firm’s sourcing and closing of over 250 multifamily property acquisitions, totaling almost 50,000 units and $5 billion in transaction volume across the United States.
He is a Bay Area native and graduated with a B.A. in English from the University of San Francisco. David resides in Tennessee and enjoys fly-fishing, golfing, and spending time with his wife and three children.
Todd Williams is a partner and Hamilton Zanze’s General Counsel. Todd joined HZ in 2014. He works with various HZ teams, HZ affiliates and subsidiaries, and outside counsel to guide and oversee the legal matters that affect the firm’s day-to-day business and its strategic goals—from acquisitions, dispositions, and exchanges to leasing and property management, corporate governance, and risk management.
Todd’s background spans both transactions and litigation, as well as experience as inside and outside counsel. He was previously an assistant general counsel at Paul Hastings, where for over a decade he focused on real estate and complex litigation and internal and external enterprise risk management. Todd has also worked at a Sacramento law firm specializing exclusively in real estate development and transactional work.
Todd completed his undergraduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley and obtained his law degree from the University of the Pacific. Originally from Sacramento, Todd currently lives in Lafayette with his wife and three kids and enjoys coaching his son’s and daughter’s soccer, rugby, and baseball teams as well as cheering for the SF Giants and California Golden Bears.
Tim Bruss is a partner and Managing Director of the Asset Management team. Tim works closely with the asset managers to strengthen operations of the portfolio, drive net operating income, and execute on property-specific business plans.
Since joining the company in 2010, Tim has been involved in transactions, construction management, and data management. Prior to joining HZ, Tim worked as a project manager for a New Jersey real estate developer, overseeing the construction of a variety of commercial, retail, and residential assets.
Tim earned a degree in Engineering from Lafayette College and received his M.B.A. from the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His professional credentials include a Certificate in Sustainable Design from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and LEED accreditation.
Originally from New Jersey, Tim now resides in Oakland, CA with his wife, son, and daughter and enjoys spending time outdoors.
John Gilmore is a partner and Managing Director of the Hamilton Zanze Project & Risk Management team. Since joining the company in 2006, John has worked as a project/construction manager, risk manager, and asset manager. He currently oversees budgeting, project management, insurance and risk management, and various green initiatives.
John has a diverse real estate background encompassing development, construction, and property management. Prior to joining HZ, John worked for an emerging Northern California real estate development company as a project manager on an 80-acre mixed-use project. Previously, John worked as a project engineer for Webcor Builders on the 42-story St. Regis Museum Tower in San Francisco.
John is a San Francisco Bay Area native and has a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and an M.B.A. from Fordham University in New York. He now resides in Templeton, CA with his wife and three kids.
We’re surrounded by a community of affiliates that complement our core operations.