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 2001, Bryce Blair was named CEO, and the additional role of Chairman in January 2002. [10] In 2003, the company sold $450 million in assets to reinvest the proceeds in its development pipeline. [11] In 2007, the company was added to the S&P 500. [12] In 2011, Timothy J. Naughton was named CEO, and the additional role of chairman in January 2013. [10] [13]
On February 27, 2013, AvalonBay Communities and Equity Residential closed a $9 billion deal to acquire Archstone from Lehman Brothers. [14]
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. [15] 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. [16]
In 2024, AvalonBay reported its intention to focus more resources on build-to-rent development and acquisitions during their 3rd quarter earnings call. [17]
As of September 30, 2025, AvalonBay owned or held an interest in 314 apartment communities containing 97,219 apartment homes, with 21 additional communities under development. [18] In the third quarter of 2025, the company's development activity included the completion of a 508-unit community in Annapolis, Maryland, and the start of construction on two new communities in Durham, North Carolina, and San Diego, California, representing an aggregate investment of $434 million. [18] During the same period, the company engaged in significant portfolio repositioning, selling six wholly-owned communities for a combined $585.1 million and acquiring three new communities in Charlotte, North Carolina, Coconut Creek, Florida, and Redmond, Washington. [19]
In November 2025, AvalonBay appointed Conor C. Flynn to its board of directors. [20]
Controversy and fraud allegations
New Jersey Lawsuit
In April 2025, the New Jersey Attorney General filed a lawsuit against AvalonBay and nine other major landlords, alleging they engaged in an unlawful conspiracy. [21] The complaint states that by using RealPage's revenue management software and sharing competitively sensitive data, the defendants agreed to set rents at artificially high, "supracompetitive" levels, violating federal and state antitrust laws. [22]
Washington D.C. Lawsuit
The District of Columbia Attorney General has filed a similar antitrust suit. While an earlier complaint was dismissed, the court allowed the District to amend and refile its claims. [23] As of September 2025, a D.C. Superior Court judge rejected AvalonBay's motion to dismiss these amended claims, allowing the case to proceed. [24]
Housing Discrimination Lawsuit (AVA NoMa)
In June 2025, the Equal Rights Center (ERC) sued AvalonBay and its ownership subsidiary for alleged housing discrimination at the AVA NoMa property in Washington, D.C. [25] The lawsuit claims that since at least 2020, the property has falsely advertised units by listing windowless rooms as bedrooms. [26] [27] 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. The ERC alleges this constitutes illegal discrimination under D.C. law. [26]
Consumer Fraud and Tenant Litigation
A federal lawsuit in New Jersey, filed on behalf of a tenant at "Avalon Teaneck," alleges a "bait-and-switch" scheme. The complaint states that AvalonBay 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. [28]
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US$2.301 billion (2020)
US$827 million (2020)