AvalonBay and UDR Swap $500 Million in Assets

Ever so often, it is a good idea to trade with your friends.  In the end, you both get new toys and it does not cost you any money.  AvalonBay and UDR decided to swap assets from their apartment community portfolios this week, leaving each with a new set of toys.

The $500 million transaction will see AvalonBay exchange three of its apartment communities  and one parcel of land for six UDR apartment communities plus $26 million in cash.  As part of the swap, the companies will exchange nearly identical $55 million mortgages.

The deal includes 6 properties from UDR, namely:

• The Crest at Phillips Ranch (Pomona, CA)
• The Villas at San Dimas (San Dimas, CA)
• The Villas at Bonita (San Dimas, CA)
• The Arboretum (Lake Forest, CA)
• Rancho Vallecitos (San Marcos, CA)
• Milazzo (San Diego, CA)

and 4 properties from AVB, namely:

• Towers by the Bay (San Francisco, CA)
• Avalon at Crane Brook (Peabody, MA)
• Avalon Woburn (Woburn, MA)
• ...plus a $263 million land parcel in Woburn, MA

UDR has already renamed their acquisitions to 388 Beale, 14 North, and Inwood West.  Both companies say they made they completed the transactions hoping to bolster their strength in areas where they have large portfolios

AvalonBay Communities Inc. holds direct or indirect ownership in 186 apartment communities, totaling 54,579 units throughout ten states and Washington, D.C. UDR, Inc. holds ownership in 59,614 units, 930 of which are under development.  Both companies deal in real estate investment trust (REIT), acquiring, developing, redeveloping, and managing real estate properties through the United States.