AvalonBay Communities, Inc. is a publicly traded

real estate investment trust A real estate investment trust (REIT, pronounced "reet") is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of real estate, including office and apartment buildings, studios, warehouses, hos ...

that invests in

apartment An apartment (American English, Canadian English), flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), tenement (Scots English), or unit (Australian English) is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that ...

s. As of January 31, 2021, the company owned 79,856 apartment units in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

, the

New York City metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

, the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area,

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It is the 3rd largest owner of apartments in the United States.

History

The company was formed by the 1998 merger between Avalon Properties Inc. and Bay Apartment Communities Inc. The merged company owned 40,506 apartment units. Avalon Properties was formed in 1993 as a spinoff from Trammell Crow Company and was led by Richard Michaux, as chairman and CEO, and Chuck Berman, president, COO and board member. Bay Apartment Communities was formed in 1994 from the apartment business established by Mike Meyer in 1978. In February 2001, Bryce Blair was named CEO, and the additional role of Chairman in January 2002. In 2003, the company sold $450 million in assets to reinvest the proceeds in its development pipeline. In 2007, the company was added to the

S&P 500 The Standard and Poor's 500, or simply the S&P 500, is a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 leading companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States. It is one of the most commonly followed equity indices and in ...

. In 2011, Timothy J. Naughton was named CEO, and the additional role of chairman in January 2013. On February 27, 2013, AvalonBay Communities and Equity Residential closed a $9 billion deal to acquire Archstone from

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merril ...

. In 2017, a lawsuit was filed by former tenants of Avalon at Edgewater, an AvalonBay community in Edgewater, New Jersey, who alleged that AvalonBay breached its duty of care by allegedly violating fire standards and safety procedures following a five-alarm fire at the community in 2015. The class action lawsuit by former Russell Building at the Avalon at Edgewater tenants was settled in 2017. Tenants were able to submit a claim for full losses from the fire by September 11, 2017. In 2024, AvalonBay reported its intention to focus more resources on build-to-rent development and acquisitions during their 3rd quarter earnings call.

References

External links

* {{Authority control American companies established in 1978 Financial services companies established in 1978 Real estate companies established in 1978 1978 establishments in Virginia Companies based in Arlington County, Virginia Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Real estate investment trusts of the United States