AvalonBay Communities

AvalonBay Communities, Inc.
IndustryReal estate investment trust
PredecessorAvalon Properties Inc.
Bay Apartment Communities, Inc.
Founded1978 (1978)
DefunctAugust 18, 2026 (2026-08-18)
FateAcquired by Vivmark Residential
HeadquartersArlington County, Virginia, U.S.
Key people
Timothy J. Naughton (chairman)
Benjamin Schall (CEO)
Kevin P. O’Shea (CFO)
RevenueIncrease US$3.040 billion (2025)
1,765,786,000 United States dollar (2022) Edit this on Wikidata
Decrease US$1.056 billion (2025)
Total assetsIncrease US$22.192 billion (2025)
Total equityDecrease US$11.611 billion (2025)
Number of employees
3,041 (2026)
Footnotes
[1]

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. was a publicly traded real estate investment trust that invested in apartments. In August 2026, the company was acquired by Vivmark Residential.

As of January 31, 2026, AvalonBay owned or held an interest in 292 apartment communities containing 88,768 apartment homes, with 27 additional communities under development, in New England, the New York City metropolitan area, the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, Seattle, and California.[1] It was the 3rd largest owner of apartments in the United States.[2]

History

The company was formed by the 1998 merger between Avalon Properties Inc. and Bay Apartment Communities Inc.[3][4][5] The merged company owned 40,506 apartment units.[3] 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.[6][7][8] Bay Apartment Communities was formed in 1994 from the apartment business established by Mike Meyer in 1978.[9]

In February 2013, the company and Equity Residential closed a $9 billion deal to acquire Archstone from Lehman Brothers.[10]

In August 2026, the company was acquired by Vivmark Residential.[11][12][13][14]

CEO history

In February 2001, Bryce Blair was named CEO, and the additional role of chairman in January 2002.[15]

In 2011, Timothy J. Naughton was named CEO, and the additional role of chairman in January 2013.[15][16]

In 2021, Benjamin Schall was named CEO.[17]

In 2017, a class action 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.[18] The lawsuit was settled in July 2017.[19]

In March 2025, a federal lawsuit filed by a tenant in New Jersey alleged a "bait-and-switch" scheme in which the company lures tenants with market-rate rents but later charges them substantial, undisclosed "Renewal Premiums" above market rate when they renew their leases, exploiting the inconvenience of moving. In October 2025, the court granted in part and denied in part AvalonBay's motion to dismiss, allowing core parts of the case to move forward.[20]

In a multi-district class action lawsuit, the company and 10 other large landlords were accused of engaging in an unlawful conspiracy to use RealPage's revenue management software to share competitively sensitive data and coordinate rent increases.[21][22][23][24][25]

In June 2025, the Equal Rights Center (ERC) sued the company for illegal discrimination under D.C. law, claiming that since at least 2020, the company's AVA NoMa property falsely listed windowless rooms as bedrooms. As D.C. housing code requires bedrooms to have a window, and the local housing voucher program requires units to pass an inspection, this practice allegedly made a significant portion of the building's units—including 100% of its advertised three-bedroom units—unavailable to tenants using housing vouchers.[26][27]

References

  1. 1 2 "AVALONBAY COMMUNITIES, INC. 2025 Form 10-K Annual Report". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 27, 2025.
  2. ↑ "NMHC 50 Largest Apartment Owners". National Multifamily Housing Council.
  3. 1 2 HOLSON, LAURA M. (March 9, 1998). "Real Estate Trusts Plan $2 Billion Merger". The New York Times.
  4. ↑ Angwin, Julia (March 9, 1998). "Bay Area REIT Signs Merger For $2 Billion / Bay Apartments buys Avalon Properties". SFGate.
  5. ↑ Pacelle, Mitchell (March 9, 1998). "Avalon Properties, Bay Apartment Agree to Merge in a Stock Swap". The Wall Street Journal.
  6. ↑ PRESTON, HOLLY HUBBARD (February 5, 2009). "A venture capitalist for a cause". The New York Times.
  7. ↑ King, Carrie (June 1, 1997). "Trammell Crow Residential: Right around the corner and on every block". National Real Estate Investor.
  8. ↑ CHARLES, ELEANOR (November 21, 1993). "In the Region/Connecticut; Avalon (Nee Trammell Crow) Runs Into Opposition". The New York Times.
  9. ↑ Pascus, Brian (August 10, 2026). "Equity Residential and AvalonBay: Inside the $71B Mega Multifamily Merger". Observer Media.
  10. ↑ "AvalonBay Equity Residential complete Archstone acquisition". American City Business Journals. February 27, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Vivmark Residential Launches as One of the Country's Leading Real Estate Companies" (Press release). Business Wire. August 18, 2025.
  12. ↑ "Equity Residential and AvalonBay to merge in mega U.S. real estate deal". CNBC. May 21, 2026.
  13. ↑ Jain, Aishwarya (May 21, 2026). Das, Joyjeet; Kalluvila, Sriraj (eds.). "AvalonBay Communities and Equity Residential announce merger of equals". Reuters.
  14. ↑ Thomas, Lauren (May 20, 2026). "Apartment Owners AvalonBay and Equity Residential Agree to Merge". The Wall Street Journal.
  15. 1 2 Bala, Vaishnavi (June 6, 2011). "AvalonBay Communities names new CEO". Reuters.
  16. ↑ Wotapka, Dawn (June 6, 2011). "AvalonBay Lays Plan as CEO Resigns". The Wall Street Journal.
  17. ↑ Wilbert, Tony (November 24, 2021). "Apartment Giant AvalonBay Makes It Official, Appoints Schall as CEO". CoStar Group.
  18. ↑ Shkolnikova, Svetlana (September 20, 2017). "Avalon fire lawsuit will go to trial". The Record (Bergen County, New Jersey).
  19. ↑ "Court Grants Final Approval to Settlement in Class Action Brought by Avalon at Edgewater Russell Building Tenants" (Press release). Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, P.A. July 10, 2017.
  20. ↑ "UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY". 2025 – via Justia.
  21. ↑ Shaver, Leslie (April 17, 2026). "EQR settles RealPage lawsuit for $56M". Industry Dive.
  22. ↑ "AG Platkin Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Software Company RealPage and 10 NJ Landlords for Alleged Collusion in Statewide Rent Raising Scheme" (Press release). New Jersey Attorney General. Archived from the original on 2025-05-14.
  23. ↑ Lissner, Caren (April 24, 2025). "Cartel Of 10 Landlords Charge 'Unlivable' Rents, NJ Attorney General Says". Patch Media.
  24. ↑ "DC Allowed To Resubmit AvalonBay Rent-Fixing Claims". Cohen Milstein. January 7, 2025.
  25. ↑ "AvalonBay Can't Duck DC's RealPage Claims". Cohen Milstein. September 24, 2025.
  26. ↑ "Equal Rights Center Sues NoMa Apartment Building Alleging Discrimination and False Advertising". Equal Rights Center (Press release). June 5, 2025.
  27. ↑ Salmonsen, Mary (June 12, 2025). "AvalonBay sued for alleged housing discrimination at Washington, DC, property". Industry Dive.
    • Historical business data for AvalonBay Communities, Inc.:
    • SEC filings
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.