UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) 

OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021

Commission file number 1-12672

AVALONBAY COMMUNITIES, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Maryland	77-0404318
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)	(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

4040 Wilson Blvd., Suite 1000

Arlington, Virginia 22203

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

(703) 329-6300

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code) 

__________________________________________________________________________

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class	Trading Symbol		Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share		AVB	New York Stock Exchange

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Yes  ý    No  o

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.

Yes  o    No  ý

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding twelve (12) months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. 

Yes  ý    No  o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).

Yes  ý    No  o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company," and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer	☒	Accelerated filer	☐
Non-accelerated filer	☐	Smaller reporting company	☐
		Emerging growth company	☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).

Yes  ☐    No  ý

The aggregate market value of the registrant's Common Stock, par value $.01 per share, held by nonaffiliates of the registrant, as of June 30, 2021 was $29,036,990,171.

The number of shares of the registrant's Common Stock, par value $.01 per share, outstanding as of January 31, 2022 was 139,752,486.

Documents Incorporated by Reference

Portions of AvalonBay Communities, Inc.'s Proxy Statement for the 2022 annual meeting of stockholders, a definitive copy of which will be filed with the SEC within 120 days after the year end of the year covered by this Form 10-K, are incorporated by reference herein as portions of Part III of this Form 10-K.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

		PAGE
PART I
ITEM 1.	BUSINESS	1
ITEM 1A.	RISK FACTORS	9
ITEM 1B.	UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS	19
ITEM 2.	PROPERTIES	20
ITEM 3.	LEGAL PROCEEDINGS	31
ITEM 4.	MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES	31
PART II
ITEM 5.	MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES	32
ITEM 6.	[RESERVED]	32
ITEM 7.	MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS	33
ITEM 7A.	QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK	53
ITEM 8.	FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA	53
ITEM 9.	CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE	54
ITEM 9A.	CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES	54
ITEM 9B.	OTHER INFORMATION	54
ITEM 9C.	DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS	54
PART III
ITEM 10.	DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE	55
ITEM 11.	EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION	55
ITEM 12.	SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS	55
ITEM 13.	CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE	56
ITEM 14.	PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES	56
PART IV
ITEM 15.	EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULE	57
ITEM 16.	FORM 10-K SUMMARY	57
SIGNATURES		61

PART I

This Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Our actual results could differ materially from those set forth in each forward-looking statement. Certain factors that might cause such a difference are discussed in this report, including in the section entitled “Forward-Looking Statements” included in this Form 10-K. You should also review Item 1A. “Risk Factors” for a discussion of various risks that could adversely affect us.

ITEM 1.    BUSINESS

General

AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (the “Company,” which term, unless the context otherwise requires, refers to AvalonBay Communities, Inc. together with its subsidiaries), is a Maryland corporation that has elected to be treated as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) for federal income tax purposes. We develop, redevelop, acquire, own and operate multifamily apartment communities in New England, the New York/New Jersey metro area, the Mid-Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest, and Northern and Southern California, as well as in our expansion markets of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Southeast Florida, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado. We focus on leading metropolitan areas that we believe historically have been characterized by growing employment in high wage sectors of the economy, higher cost of home ownership and a diverse and vibrant quality of life. We believe these market characteristics have offered, and will continue in the future to offer, the opportunity for superior risk-adjusted returns over the long-term on apartment community investments relative to other markets that do not have these characteristics.

At January 31, 2022, we owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in:

•278 operating apartment communities containing 81,803 apartment homes in 12 states and the District of Columbia, of which 268 communities containing 79,213 apartment homes were consolidated for financial reporting purposes and 10 communities containing 2,590 apartment homes were held by unconsolidated entities in which we hold an ownership interest.

•17 wholly-owned apartment communities under development that are expected to contain an aggregate of 5,386 apartment homes when completed and two unconsolidated investments which each hold an apartment community under development and together are expected to contain an aggregate of 803 apartment homes when completed.

•The Park Loggia, which contains 172 for-sale residential condominiums, of which 132 have been sold as of January 31, 2022, and 66,000 square feet of commercial space, of which 87% has been leased as of January 31, 2022.

•Rights to develop an additional 27 communities that, if developed as expected, will contain 10,092 apartment homes.

We generally obtain ownership in an apartment community by developing a new community on either vacant land or land with improvements that we raze, or by acquiring an existing community. In selecting sites for development or acquisition, we favor locations that are near expanding employment centers and convenient to transportation, recreation areas, entertainment, shopping and dining.

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Our principal financial goal is to increase long-term shareholder value through the development, redevelopment, acquisition, ownership and, when appropriate, disposition of apartment communities in our markets. To help meet this goal, we regularly (i) monitor our investment allocation by geographic market and product type, (ii) develop, redevelop and acquire interests in apartment communities in our selected markets, (iii) selectively sell apartment communities that no longer meet our long-term strategy or when opportunities are presented to realize a portion of the value created through our investment and redeploy the proceeds from those sales and (iv) maintain a capital structure that we believe is aligned with our business risks and allows us to maintain continuous access to cost-effective capital. We undertake our development and redevelopment activities primarily through in-house development and redevelopment teams, which are complemented by our in-house acquisition platform. We believe that our organizational structure, which includes dedicated development and operational teams, and strong culture are key differentiators. We pursue our development, redevelopment, investment and operating activities with the purpose of Creating a Better Way to Live.

Our strategic vision is to be the leading apartment company in select US markets, providing a range of distinctive living experiences that customers value. We pursue this vision by targeting what we believe are among the best markets and submarkets, leveraging our strategic capabilities in market research and consumer insight and being disciplined in our capital allocation and balance sheet management. We operate our apartment communities under four core brands, Avalon, AVA, eaves by Avalon and our Kanso brand which we introduced in 2020. We believe that this branding differentiation allows us to target our product offerings to multiple customer groups and submarkets within our existing geographic footprint. Our core “Avalon” brand focuses on upscale apartment living and high end amenities and services. “AVA” targets customers in high energy, transit-served neighborhoods and generally feature smaller apartments, many of which are designed for roommate living, and a variety of active common spaces that encourage socialization. “eaves by Avalon” is targeted to the cost conscious, “value” segment primarily in suburban areas. In 2020, we introduced our "Kanso" brand through one of our current Development Communities. The Kanso brand is designed to create an apartment living experience that offers simplicity without sacrifice at a more moderate price point, featuring high-quality apartment homes, limited-to-no community amenities and a low-touch, largely self-service operating model that leverages technology and smart access. We believe that these brands allow us to further penetrate our existing markets by appealing to different consumer preferences.

During the three years ended December 31, 2021, we:

•acquired 12 apartment communities, excluding unconsolidated investments, and in 2019 we purchased our joint venture partner's interest in one operating community, obtaining a 100% ownership in that apartment community;

•disposed of 24 apartment communities, excluding unconsolidated investments;

•realized our pro rata share of the gain from the sale of four communities owned by unconsolidated real estate entities; and

•completed the development of 24 apartment communities and the redevelopment of nine apartment communities.

A more detailed description of our unconsolidated real estate entities and the related investment activity can be found in Note 5, “Investments,” of the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of this report and in Item 7. “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

A further discussion of our development, redevelopment, disposition, acquisition, property management and related strategies follows.

Development Strategy.    We select land for development and follow established procedures that we believe minimize both the cost and the risks of development. As one of the largest developers of multifamily rental apartment communities in our selected markets, we maintain regional offices to identify and support development opportunities through local market presence and access to local market information. In addition to our principal executive office in Arlington, Virginia, we also have regional offices, administrative offices or specialty offices, including offices that are in or near the following cities:

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•Bellevue, Washington;

•Boca Raton and Miami, Florida;

•Boston, Massachusetts;

•Chapel Hill, North Carolina;

•Denver, Colorado;

•Irvine, California;

•Los Angeles, California;

•Melville, New York;

•New York, New York;

•San Francisco, California;

•San Jose, California;

•Shelton Connecticut;

•Virginia Beach, Virginia; and

•Westfield, New Jersey.

After selecting a site for development, we usually negotiate for the right to acquire the site either through an option or a long-term conditional contract. Options and long-term conditional contracts generally allow us to acquire an interest in the site after the completion of entitlements and shortly before the start of construction, which reduces development-related risks and preserves capital. However, as a result of competitive market conditions for land suitable for development, we have sometimes acquired and held land prior to construction for extended periods while entitlements are obtained, or acquired land zoned for uses other than residential with the potential for rezoning. When acquiring improved land with existing commercial uses prior to development, any rent received in excess of expenses from these operations, which we consider to be incidental, is accounted for as a reduction in our investment in the development pursuit and not as net income. Any expenses relating to these operations, in excess of any rents received, are recognized in net income. We have also participated, and may in the future participate, in master planned or other large multi-use developments where we commit to build infrastructure (such as roads) to be used by other participants or commit to act as construction manager or general contractor in building structures or spaces for third parties (such as unimproved ground floor commercial space, municipal garages or parks). Costs we incur in connection with these activities may be accounted for as additional invested capital in the community or we may earn fee income for providing these services. Particularly with large scale, urban in-fill developments, we may engage in significant environmental remediation efforts to prepare a site for construction. For further discussion of our Development Rights, refer to Item 2. “Properties” in this report.

We generally act as our own general contractor and construction manager, except for certain mid-rise and high-rise apartment communities, or in locations where we have limited historical experience such as our expansion markets where we may elect to use third-party general contractors as construction managers. We generally perform these functions directly (although we may use a wholly-owned subsidiary) both for ourselves and for the joint ventures and partnerships of which we are a member or a partner. We believe direct involvement in construction enables us to achieve higher construction quality, greater control over construction schedules and cost savings. Our development, property management and construction teams monitor construction progress to ensure quality workmanship and a smooth and timely transition into the leasing and operating phase.

Throughout this report, the term “development” is used to refer to the entire property development cycle, including pursuit of zoning approvals, procurement of architectural and engineering designs and the construction process. References to “construction” refer to the actual construction of the property, which is only one element of the development cycle.

Redevelopment Strategy.    When we undertake the redevelopment of a community, our goal is to renovate and/or rebuild an existing community so that our total investment is generally below replacement cost and the community is well positioned in the market to achieve attractive returns on our capital. We have dedicated redevelopment teams and procedures that are intended to control both the cost and risks of redevelopment. Our redevelopment teams, which include redevelopment, construction and property management personnel, monitor redevelopment progress.

Throughout this report, the term “redevelopment” is used to refer to the entire redevelopment cycle, including planning and procurement of architectural and engineering designs, budgeting and actual renovation work. The actual renovation work is referred to as “reconstruction,” which is only one element of the redevelopment cycle.

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Disposition Strategy.    We sell assets that no longer meet our long-term strategy or when real estate market conditions are favorable, and we redeploy the proceeds from those sales to develop, redevelop and acquire communities and to rebalance our portfolio across or within geographic regions. This also allows us to realize a portion of the value created through our investments and provides additional liquidity by redeploying the net proceeds from our dispositions in lieu of raising that amount of capital externally. When we decide to sell a community, we generally solicit competing bids from unrelated parties for these individual assets and consider the sales price and other terms of each proposal.

As part of the Archstone Acquisition in 2013 (as defined in Item 1. “Business” in the Company's Form 10-K filed February 22, 2019), we acquired, and still own, 14 assets that had previously been contributed by third parties on a tax-deferred basis to an Archstone partnership in which the third parties received ownership interests. To protect the tax-deferred nature of the contribution, the third parties are entitled to cash payments if we trigger tax obligations to the third parties by selling, or failing to maintain sufficient levels of secured financing on, the contributed assets. Our tax protection payment obligations with respect to these assets expire at different times and in some cases don’t expire until the death of a third party who contributed ownership interests to the Archstone partnership. After review and investigation of Archstone’s tax and accounting records, we estimate that, had we sold or taken other triggering actions in 2021 with respect to all 14 assets, the aggregate amount of the tax protection payments that would have been triggered would have been approximately $45,100,000. At the present time, we do not intend to take actions that would cause us to be required to make tax protection payments with respect to any of these assets.

Acquisition Strategy.    Our core competencies in development and redevelopment discussed above allow us to be selective in the acquisitions we target. Acquisitions allow us to achieve rapid penetration into markets in which we desire an increased presence. Acquisitions (and dispositions) also help us achieve our desired product mix or rebalance our portfolio. While we are primarily focused on acquisitions in our expansion markets of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Southeast Florida, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado, we may pursue additional investments in our legacy coastal markets based on market conditions.

Property Management Strategy.    We seek to increase operating income through innovative, proactive property management that will result in higher revenue from communities while constraining operating expenses. Our principal strategies to maximize operating income include:

•focusing on associate engagement and resident satisfaction;

•staggering lease terms such that lease expirations are matched with seasonal demand;

•delivering high occupancy with premium pricing for various customer segments; and

•making innovations in our operating model through (i) leveraging technology, including digital, cloud and various automation technologies and (ii) data science to optimize revenue from the portfolio, while reducing customer acquisition, transaction and retention costs.

Constraining growth in operating expenses is another way in which we seek to increase earnings growth. Growth in our portfolio and the resulting increase in revenue allows for fixed operating costs to be spread over a larger volume of revenue, thereby increasing operating margins. We constrain growth in operating expenses in a variety of ways, which include, but are not limited to, the following:

•purchase order controls, acquiring goods and services from pre-approved vendors;

•national negotiated contracts and bulk purchases where possible;

•bidding third-party contracts on a volume basis;

•retaining residents through high levels of service, which reduces apartment turnover costs, marketing and vacant apartment utility costs;

•performing turnover work in-house or hiring third parties, generally considering the most cost effective approach as well as expertise needed to perform the work;

•regular preventive maintenance to maximize resident safety and satisfaction and property and equipment life;

•centralization of many community administration and support tasks at our shared service center;

•pursuing real estate tax appeals;

•installing high efficiency lighting and water fixtures, cogeneration systems and solar panels; and

•implementing technology for resident and prospect services such as package lockers and self guided or virtual tours.

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On-site property management teams receive bonuses based largely upon the revenue, expense, Net Operating Income (“NOI”) and customer service metrics produced at their respective communities. We use and continuously seek ways to improve technology applications to help manage our communities, believing that the accurate collection of financial and resident data will enable us to maximize revenue and control costs through careful leasing decisions, maintenance decisions and financial management.

We generally manage the operation and leasing activity of our communities directly (although we may use a wholly-owned subsidiary) both for ourselves and the joint ventures and partnerships of which we are a member or a partner. From time to time we may engage a third party to manage leasing and/or maintenance activity at one or more of our communities where we have limited historical experience such as our expansion markets or for other reasons.

From time to time we also pursue or arrange ancillary services for our residents to provide additional revenue sources or increase resident satisfaction. We provide such non-customary services to residents or share in the revenue or income from such services through a “taxable REIT subsidiary,” which is a subsidiary that is treated as a “C corporation” subject to federal income taxes. See “Tax Matters” below.

Financing Strategy.    Our financing strategy is to maintain a capital structure that provides financial flexibility to help ensure we can select cost effective capital market options that are well matched to our business risks. We estimate that our short-term liquidity needs will be met from cash on hand, borrowings under our $1,750,000,000 revolving variable rate unsecured credit facility (the “Credit Facility”), sales of current operating communities and/or issuance of additional debt or equity securities. A determination to engage in an equity or debt offering depends on a variety of factors such as general market and economic conditions, our short and long-term liquidity needs, the relative costs of debt and equity capital and growth opportunities. A summary of debt and equity activity for the last three years is reflected on our Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows of the Consolidated Financial Statements set forth in Item 8 of this report.

We have entered into, and may continue in the future to enter into, joint ventures (including limited liability companies or partnerships) through which we would develop and/or own an indirect economic interest of less than 100% of the community or communities owned directly by such joint ventures. Our decision to either hold an apartment community in fee simple or to have an indirect interest in the community through a joint venture is based on a variety of factors and considerations, including: (i) the economic and tax terms required by a seller of land or of a community; (ii) our desire to diversify our portfolio of communities by market, submarket and product type; (iii) our desire at times to preserve our capital resources to maintain liquidity or balance sheet strength; and (iv) our projection, in some circumstances, that we will achieve higher returns on our invested capital or reduce our risk if a joint venture vehicle is used. Investments in joint ventures are not limited to a specified percentage of our assets. Each joint venture agreement is individually negotiated, and our ability to operate and/or dispose of a community in our sole discretion may be limited to varying degrees depending on the terms of the joint venture agreement.

In addition, from time to time, we may offer shares of our equity securities, debt securities or options to purchase stock in exchange for property. We may also acquire properties in exchange for properties we currently own.

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Other Strategies and Activities.    While we emphasize equity real estate investments in rental apartment communities, we have the ability to invest in other activities and to make non-equity investments, including the following:

•Commercial space: we own and lease commercial space at our communities when either (i) the highest and best use of the space is for commercial (e.g., street level in an urban area); (ii) we believe the commercial space will enhance the attractiveness of the community to residents or; (iii) some component of commercial space is required to obtain entitlements to build apartment homes. As of December 31, 2021, we had a total of approximately 867,000 square feet of rentable commercial space, excluding commercial space within communities currently under development. Gross rental revenue provided by leased commercial space in 2021 was $31,885,000 (1.4% of total revenue).

•For-sale real estate development: we may also develop a property in conjunction with another real estate company that will own and operate the commercial or for-sale residential components of a mixed-use building or project that we help develop. We may from time to time, through a taxable REIT subsidiary ("TRS"), develop real estate and hold it out for sale upon completion if we believe, at the outset or due to changed circumstances, that this will be the best use or disposition opportunity for the property, as is the case with our sale of apartment condominium units at The Park Loggia condominium development in New York, NY.

•Property technology and environmental investments: we have also invested, either through a wholly-owned TRS, or in an investment vehicle that has elected to be treated as a TRS, in companies (and in venture funds that invest in companies) that provide technology services to the real estate industry, and we have invested, through a TRS, in environmentally focused investment funds to further our sustainability efforts and learning. As of December 31, 2021, we invested $17,277,000 in various property technology and environmentally focused companies directly and indirectly through investment management funds.

•Debt financing: while we generally invest in equity through fee simple ownership or an equity investment in a joint venture, we may invest in mortgages (including participating or convertible mortgages) secured by real estate owned or being developed by an unaffiliated third party, and we may act as a direct, unsecured lender to an unaffiliated third party that owns or is developing real estate. At December 31, 2021, we had no such investments but were pursuing opportunities to make such investments.

We have not engaged in trading, underwriting or agency distribution or sale of securities of other issuers and do not intend to do so. At all times we intend to make investments in a manner so as to qualify as a REIT unless, because of circumstances or changes to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) (or the Treasury Regulations thereunder), our Board of Directors determines that it is no longer in our best interest to qualify as a REIT.

We conduct many of the administrative functions associated with our property operations (including billing, collections, and response to resident inquiries) through an internally operated shared services center, rather than having on-site associates conduct such activities. We believe this centralized platform allows our on-site associates to focus more on current and prospective resident services, while at the same time enabling us to reduce costs, mitigate risk and increase our availability and responsiveness to our residents. We are exploring the possibility of performing these shared service center administrative functions for a third party as a means of creating an additional revenue stream and economies of scale at our center. We cannot assure that we will provide such services to a third party or that it will be successful if we do so. 

Tax Matters

We filed an election with our 1994 federal income tax return to be taxed as a REIT under the Code and intend to maintain our qualification as a REIT in the future. As a REIT, with limited exceptions, such as those described under “Property Management Strategy” above, we will not be taxed under federal and certain state income tax laws at the corporate level on our taxable net income to the extent such taxable net income is distributed to our stockholders. We expect to make sufficient distributions to avoid income tax at the corporate level. While we believe that we are organized and qualified as a REIT and we intend to operate in a manner that will allow us to continue to qualify as a REIT, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in this regard. Qualification as a REIT involves the application of highly technical and complex provisions of the Code for which there are limited judicial and administrative interpretations and involves the determination of a variety of factual matters and circumstances not entirely within our control.

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Competition

We face competition from other real estate investors, including insurance companies, pension and investment funds, REITs both in the multifamily as well as other sectors, and other well capitalized investors, to acquire and develop apartment communities and acquire land for future development. As an owner and operator of apartment communities, we also face competition for prospective residents from other operators whose communities may be perceived to offer a better location or better amenities or whose pricing may be perceived as a better value given the quality, location, terms and amenities that the prospective resident seeks. We also compete against condominiums and single-family homes that are for sale or rent, including those offered through online platforms. Although we often compete against large, sophisticated developers and operators for development opportunities and for prospective residents, real estate developers and operators of any size can provide effective competition for both real estate assets and potential residents.

Regulatory Matters

Compliance with various governmental regulations has an impact on our business, including our capital expenditures, earnings and competitive position, which can be material. We incur costs to monitor and take actions to comply with governmental regulations that are applicable to our business, which include, among others, federal securities laws and regulations, applicable stock exchange requirements, REIT and other tax laws and regulations, environmental and health and safety laws and regulations, local zoning, usage and other regulations relating to real property, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and related laws and regulations.

Environmental Regulations. As a current or prior owner, operator and developer of real estate, we are subject to various federal, state and local environmental laws, regulations and ordinances and also could be liable to third parties resulting from environmental contamination or noncompliance at our communities. For some Development Communities, we undertake extensive environmental remediation to prepare the site for construction, which could be a significant portion of our total construction cost. Environmental remediation efforts could expose us to possible liabilities for accidents or improper handling of contaminated materials during construction.

We believe that more government regulation of energy use, along with a greater focus on environmental protection, may, over time, have a significant impact on urban growth patterns. If changes in zoning to encourage greater density and proximity to mass transit do occur, such changes could benefit multifamily housing and those companies with a competency in high-density development. However, there can be no assurance as to whether or when such changes in regulations or zoning will occur or, if they do occur, whether the multifamily industry or the Company will benefit from such changes.

Regulations Relating to the Construction, Operation and Leasing of Our Communities. The construction, operation and leasing of our communities is subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations, include zoning laws, building codes, requirements that our communities be accessible to persons with disabilities, fair housing laws, and, depending on the jurisdiction, regulations regarding the charging of rents and fees and increases in such amounts upon renewal of leases. Some laws relating to the setting of rents apply broadly, such as in California, where residential rent increases at renewal in communities older than fifteen years are limited to the lesser of 10% or 5% plus local consumer price index (CPI), and in New York, where laws regulate increases on those units that are subject to rent-control or rent-stabilization. In California, the Governor and local governments have the ability to enact (and have in recent years exercised such right, for example, in connection with wildfires) local or statewide states of emergency which limit our ability to increase new and renewal rents to no more than 10% over the rent in place on the date such state of emergency was declared, which has impacted some of our California communities. In addition, various temporary federal, state and local laws enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic have imposed additional regulations of or limitations on our ability to evict tenants who are delinquent in payment of their rent, charge late fees, or raise rents more than a regulated amount upon renewal.

See Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” for a discussion of material risks to us, including, to the extent material, to our competitive position, relating to governmental regulations, and see Part II, Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” together with the Consolidated Financial Statements and the accompanying Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this report, for a discussion of material information relevant to an assessment of our financial condition and results of operations.

Human Capital

Attracting, motivating, developing, and retaining talented associates who share our purpose, core values and cultural norms is important to our long-term success. We train our associates to understand our purpose (Creating a Better Way to Live), our core

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values (a commitment to integrity, a spirit of caring and a focus on continuous improvement) and our cultural norms (we collaborate, excel, innovate, act like owners, are thoughtful and thorough, and show appreciation).

At January 31, 2022, we had 2,927 employees, of which approximately 97% were employed on a full-time basis. Approximately 70% of our associates work on-site at our operating communities and the balance work on other matters. None of our associates are represented by a union except for approximately 20 maintenance associates at communities in Westchester County, New York, where we are in the process of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement.

We consider the following aspects of human capital management to be important:

Diversity and Inclusion. We value workforce diversity and an inclusive culture. We believe that a diverse workplace will produce a variety of perspectives, motivate associates and help us understand and better serve our customers and the communities in which we do business. At January 31, 2022, 38% of our associates self-identified as White, 30% as Hispanic, 14% as Black, 6% as Asian, and 12% as other ethnicities, two or more ethnicities or did not respond. At January 31, 2022, 61% of our associates self-identified as male and 39% as female. We are committed to promoting and achieving greater workplace diversity and have undertaken active steps to further this goal.

Associate Engagement. We monitor the engagement of our associates, receive feedback from our associates, and benchmark our performance by having a third party firm conduct anonymous associate perspective surveys each year. The results are discussed and presented both on a company-wide basis and within each functional group.

Safety. We take workplace safety seriously at our construction sites, our operating communities and our offices. Through our Construction Site Safety Observation program and our dedicated safety team, we monitor project-level safety performance metrics at our construction sites, and elements of compensation for our construction group and our CEO are based on safety compliance performance. Our maintenance associates are required to take monthly safety training on a variety of subjects, and our risk management group monitors incident reports from our offices and communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented unique health and safety challenges, and we have taken a number of actions in response to promote the well-being of our associates, including permitting remote work and flexible schedules where feasible, providing extended Company paid leave for associates who needed to miss work for COVID-19 related reasons, establishing office and community protocols for associate safety, conducting training and refresher courses on COVID-19 prevention and communicating regularly with associates on COVID-19 topics.

Training. We help our associates develop the skills they need to advance in their careers and succeed at AvalonBay. We train our associates in a variety of ways, including through our learning management system, AvalonBay University, which offers approximately 900 courses providing technical, management, ethics, compliance and cyber-awareness training.

Other Information

We file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You may obtain copies of our SEC filings, free of charge, from the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

We maintain a website at www.avalonbay.com. Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports, filed or furnished pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are available free of charge in the “Investor Relations” section of our website as soon as reasonably practicable after the reports are filed with or furnished to the SEC. In addition, the charters of our Board's Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, Audit Committee and Compensation Committee, as well as our Director Independence Standards, Corporate Governance Guidelines, Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, Policy Regarding Shareholder Rights Agreements, Policy Regarding Shareholder Approval of Future Severance Agreements, Senior Officer Stock Ownership Guidelines, Policy on Political Contributions and Government Relations, Policy on Recoupment, and Corporate Responsibility Reports, are available free of charge in that section of our website or by writing to AvalonBay Communities, Inc., 4040 Wilson Blvd., Suite 1000, Arlington, Virginia 22203, Attention: Chief Financial Officer. To the extent required by the rules of the SEC and the NYSE, we will disclose amendments and waivers relating to these documents in the same place on our website. The information posted on our website is not incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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ITEM 1A.    RISK FACTORS

Our operations involve various risks that could have adverse consequences, including those described below. This Item 1A. includes forward-looking statements. You should refer to our discussion of the qualifications and limitations on forward-looking statements in this Form 10-K.

Risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on multifamily rental housing

The national and global impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic (including the impact of new strains of the original virus) continue to evolve. Regulatory measures have at times included varying requirements for social distancing, limitations on landlords' rights with respect to delinquent tenants, and restrictions on travel, congregation and business operations. Business and consumer preferences for work and living arrangements during the pandemic continue to evolve as well. The long-term impact of COVID-19 on the economy remains uncertain. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to present material uncertainty and risk with respect to our performance, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. Moreover, many of the risk factors set forth in this Form 10-K should be interpreted as heightened risks as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, if in the future there is an outbreak of another highly infectious or contagious disease, the Company and our properties may be subject to similar risks as the risks posed by COVID-19.

Regulatory, business and consumer responses to the COVID-19 pandemic impact our operations.

Operating impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic include the following:

•Numerous state, local, and federal entities imposed restrictions, for varying times and to varying degrees, on our ability to enforce residents’ contractual lease obligations, and this will continue to affect our ability (until a restriction is lifted or expires) to enforce all our remedies (such as pursuing collections and seeking evictions) for the failure to pay rent.

•Consumers whose income has declined, who are working remotely or who cannot freely access neighborhood amenities like restaurants, gyms and entertainment venues, may decide to live in a location other than our markets. For as long as interest rates remain low and health concerns remain, consumers who would otherwise rent a multifamily apartment may opt instead to rent a single family home or purchase a home. Demand from students and demand for corporate apartment homes have been and may continue to be negatively impacted by trends in remote learning and work, and the adoption of new online technologies.

•Various state, local and federal rules required us, in some jurisdictions or for some properties, to waive late fees and certain other customary fees associated with our apartment rental business, and may do so in the future. We have elected at times also to waive these fees even where or when not required, and may do so in the future. These requirements or practices have resulted, and to the extent implemented or continued may in the future result, in foregone revenue.

•Our properties may also incur significant costs or losses related to shelter-in-place or stay-at-home orders, quarantines, infection, clean-up costs or other related factors.

•Social distancing and other measures have caused us from time to time to revise the manner in which we meet with prospective residents and serve current residents. For example, prospective residents visiting apartments may do so virtually or on a self-tour rather than being accompanied by a leasing consultant. In addition, in many communities, access to various common areas may be limited. These factors may affect resident satisfaction and leasing velocity.

•There are growing concerns related to the general economy about (i) supply chain constraints caused by business challenges resulting from the pandemic and (ii) inflation caused by both supply chain constraints and governmental fiscal and monetary policies. Supply chain constraints could cause delays in our construction and redevelopment activity, and inflation could cause our construction and operating costs to increase. In the event that our rents and rental revenue do not increase sufficiently to offset increases in construction and operating costs, our operating results would be negatively impacted.

In addition to renting apartment homes directly to residents, we also lease ancillary commercial space at our communities and lease apartment homes to corporate apartment home providers. In 2021, 1.4% of our total revenue was from commercial tenants and 2.1% of our total residential revenue was from corporate apartment home providers. To the extent that the pandemic or any associated government restrictions have adverse impacts on the businesses of our commercial tenants, or demand from corporate apartment home providers, we may experience elevated delinquencies for these tenants. There may also be a greater risk of bankruptcy and default from commercial and corporate apartment home providers.

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Emergency orders shutting down non-essential businesses, limiting congregations of people, and requiring social distancing have at times disrupted, and may in the future disrupt, our development and construction activity. To the extent we experience delays in construction, our construction costs may increase and we may not achieve, on the schedule we originally planned, the cash flows that we expect when we begin leasing a completed property. We may also delay the start of construction of additional development communities which, if constructed and leased as originally planned, would have been a source of future additional cash flow.

The same factors as described immediately above may also impact our workforce. Many associates, particularly in overhead positions, are working remotely. This disruption in the normal operations of our workforce, as well as the possibility of illness among our associates or a substantial portion of our workforce, could also adversely affect our operations.

Risks related to investments through acquisitions, construction, development, and joint ventures

Development, redevelopment and construction risks could affect our profitability.

We intend to continue to develop and redevelop apartment home communities. These activities can include long planning and entitlement timelines and can involve complex and costly activities, including significant environmental remediation or construction work in high-density urban areas. These activities may expose us to the following risks, among others:

•we may abandon opportunities that we have already begun to explore for a number of reasons, including changes in local market conditions or increases in construction or financing costs, and, as a result, we may fail to recover expenses already incurred in exploring those opportunities;

•occupancy rates and rents at a community may fail to meet our original expectations for a number of reasons, including changes in market and economic conditions beyond our control and the development by competitors of competing communities;

•we may be unable to obtain, or experience delays in obtaining, necessary zoning, occupancy or other required governmental or third party permits and authorizations, which could result in increased costs, or the delay or abandonment of opportunities;

•we may incur costs that exceed our original estimates due to increased material, labor or other costs;

•we may be unable to complete construction of a community on schedule or for the originally projected cost resulting in increased construction and financing costs;

•we may incur liabilities to third parties during the development process, for example, in connection with managing existing improvements on the site prior to tenant terminations and demolition (such as commercial space) or in connection with providing services to third parties (such as the construction of shared infrastructure or other improvements); and

•we may incur liability if our communities are not constructed in compliance with the accessibility provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Acts, the Fair Housing Act or other federal, state or local requirements. Noncompliance could result in imposition of fines, an award of damages to private litigants and a requirement that we undertake structural modifications to remedy the noncompliance.

Refer to our “Risks related to liquidity and financing” section below for additional construction and development risks related to financing.

Attractive investment opportunities may not be available, which could adversely affect our profitability.

We expect that other real estate investors, including insurance companies, pension and investment funds, other REITs and other well-capitalized investors, will compete with us to acquire existing properties and to develop new properties. This competition could increase prices for properties of the type we would likely pursue and adversely affect our profitability for new investments.

Acquisitions may not yield anticipated results.

Our business strategy includes acquiring as well as developing communities. Our acquisition activities may be exposed to the following risks:

•an acquired property may fail to perform as we expected in analyzing our investment; and

•our estimate of the costs of operating, repositioning or redeveloping an acquired property may prove inaccurate.

Failure to succeed in new markets, or with new brands and community formats, or in activities other than the development, ownership and operation of residential rental communities may have adverse consequences.

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We may from time to time commence development activity or make acquisitions outside of our existing market areas if appropriate opportunities arise. Our historical experience in our existing markets in developing, owning and operating rental communities does not ensure that we will be able to operate successfully in new markets. We may be exposed to a variety of risks when we enter a new market, including an inability to accurately evaluate local apartment market conditions and an inability to obtain land for development or to identify appropriate acquisition opportunities.

We also may engage or have an interest in for-sale activity, such as the sale of the residential condominiums at The Park Loggia, a mixed-use development located in New York, New York. We may be unsuccessful at developing real estate with the intent to sell or in selling condominiums at originally underwritten values, or at all, as a disposition strategy for an asset, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

We are exposed to risks associated with investment in, and management of, discretionary real estate investment funds and joint ventures and technology and environmentally focused companies.

At times we invest directly and indirectly in real estate as a partner or a co-venturer with other investors or in technology and environmentally focused companies. Joint venture investments (including investments through partnerships or limited liability companies) involve risks, including the possibility that our partner might become insolvent or otherwise refuse to make capital contributions when due; that we may be responsible to our partner for indemnifiable losses or the debt and obligations of an investment; that our investments may lose all or some of their value; that our partner might have business goals that are inconsistent with ours which may result in the venture or investment being unable to implement certain decisions that we consider beneficial; that our partner may be in a position to take action or withhold consent contrary to our instructions or requests; that, in cases where we are the general partner or managing member, our partners holding a majority of the equity interests may remove us from such role in certain cases involving cause; and that we may be liable and/or our status as a REIT may be jeopardized if either the investments, or the REIT entities associated with the investments, fail to comply with various tax or other regulatory matters. Frequently, we and our partner may each have the right to trigger a buy-sell or similar arrangement that could cause us to sell our interest, acquire our partner's interest or force a sale of the asset, at a time when we otherwise would not have initiated such a transaction and on terms that are not most advantageous to us.

Our investments in technology companies, or in funds that invest in technology companies, are generally held through taxable REIT subsidiaries pursuant to which we will incur taxable gains upon the disposition of our interests. In addition, the value of these investments may be volatile and declines in value may impact our reported income even if we do not sell the investment.

We are exposed to risks associated with real estate assets that are subject to ground leases that may restrict our ability to finance, sell or otherwise transfer our interests in those assets, limit our use and expose us to loss if such agreements are breached by us or terminated.

We own assets that are subject to long-term ground leases. These ground leases may impose limitations on our use of the properties, restrict our ability to finance, sell or otherwise transfer our interests or restrict the leasing of the properties. These restrictions may limit our ability to timely sell or exchange the properties, impair the properties’ value or negatively impact our ability to operate the properties. In addition, we could lose our interests in the properties if the ground leases are breached by us, terminated or lapse. As we get closer to the lease termination dates, the values of the properties could decrease if we are unable to agree upon an extension of the lease with the lessor. Certain of these ground leases have payments subject to annual escalations and/or periodic fair market value adjustments which could adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations.

Land we hold with no current intent to develop may be subject to future impairment charges.

We own land parcels that we do not currently intend to develop. As discussed in Item 2. “Properties—Other Land and Real Estate Assets,” in the event that the fair market value less the cost to dispose of a parcel changes such that it is less than the carrying basis of the parcel, we would be subject to an impairment charge, which would reduce our net income.

Risks related to liquidity and financing

Capital and credit market conditions may adversely affect our access to various sources of capital and/or the cost of capital, which could impact our business activities, dividends, earnings and common stock price, among other things.

In periods when the capital and credit markets experience significant volatility, the amounts, sources and cost of capital available to us may be adversely affected. We primarily use external financing to fund construction and to refinance indebtedness as it matures. If sufficient sources of external financing are not available to us on cost effective terms, we could be forced to limit our development and redevelopment activity and/or take other actions to fund our business activities and

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repayment of debt, such as selling assets, reducing our cash dividend or issuing equity. If we are able and/or choose to access capital at a higher cost than we have experienced in recent years, our earnings per share and cash flows could be adversely affected. In addition, the price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly and/or decline in a high interest rate environment or a volatile economic environment, or if we dilute the interest of stockholders by issuing additional equity. We believe that the lenders under our Credit Facility will fulfill their lending obligations thereunder, but if economic conditions deteriorate, the ability of those lenders to fulfill their obligations may be adversely impacted.

Insufficient cash flow could affect our debt financing and create refinancing risk.

We are subject to the risks associated with debt financing, including the risk that our available cash will be insufficient to meet required payments of principal and interest on our debt. For us to continue to qualify as a REIT, we are required to annually distribute dividends generally equal to at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, which limits the amount of our cash flow available to meet required principal and interest payments. The principal outstanding balance on a portion of our debt will not be fully amortized prior to its maturity. We cannot assure you that we will have sufficient cash flows available to make all required principal payments. Therefore, we expect that we will generally need to refinance at least a portion of our outstanding debt as it matures. There is a risk that we may not be able to refinance existing debt or that a refinancing will not be done on as favorable terms; either of these outcomes could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Rising interest rates could increase interest costs and could affect the market price of our common stock, and efforts to hedge such risk could be ineffective and cause us to incur additional costs.

If interest rates increase, our interest costs on variable rate debt will rise unless we have hedged the risk of rising interest rates. In addition, an increase in market interest rates may lead purchasers of our common stock to demand a greater annual dividend yield, which could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

From time to time we use interest rate derivatives to hedge and manage our exposure to certain interest rate risks. For example, when we anticipate issuing debt securities, we may seek to limit our exposure to fluctuations in interest rates prior to debt issuance by entering into interest rate hedging contracts. Although these agreements may partially protect against rising interest rates, they also may reduce the benefits to the Company if interest rates decline. The settlement or termination of interest rate hedging contracts may involve material charges to our earnings including net costs, such as transaction fees, settlement costs and/or breakage costs. In addition, our use of interest rate hedging arrangements may expose us to additional risks, including a risk that a counterparty to a hedging arrangement may fail to honor its obligations. Developing and implementing an interest rate risk strategy is complex and no strategy can completely insulate us from risks associated with interest rate fluctuations and there can be no assurance that our hedging activities will be effective.

Bond financing and zoning and other compliance requirements could limit our income, restrict the use of communities and cause favorable financing to become unavailable.

We have financed some of our apartment communities with obligations issued by local government agencies because the interest paid to the holders of this debt is generally exempt from federal income taxes, which typically provides a more favorable interest rate for us. These obligations are commonly referred to as “tax-exempt bonds” and generally must be secured by mortgages on our communities. As a condition to obtaining tax-exempt financing, or as a condition to obtaining favorable zoning or an agreement relating to property taxes in some jurisdictions, we will commit to make some of the apartments in a community available to households whose income does not exceed certain thresholds (e.g., 50% or 80% of area median income), or who meet other qualifying tests. As of December 31, 2021, 4.9% of our apartment homes at current operating communities were under income limitations such as these. These commitments, which may or may not expire, may limit our ability to raise rents and, as a consequence, adversely affect the value of the communities subject to these restrictions. If we fail to observe these commitments, we could lose benefits (such as reduced property taxes) or face liabilities including liability for the benefits we received under tax exempt bonds, tax credits or agreements related to property taxes.

Some of our tax-exempt bond financing documents require us to obtain a guarantee from a financial institution of payment of the principal and interest on the bonds. The guarantee may take the form of a letter of credit, surety bond, guarantee agreement or other additional collateral. If the financial institution defaults in its guarantee obligations, or if we are unable to renew the applicable guarantee or otherwise post satisfactory collateral, a default will occur and the community could be foreclosed upon if we do not redeem the tax exempt bonds.

Risks related to indebtedness.

We have a Credit Facility with a syndicate of commercial banks. Our organizational documents do not limit the amount or percentage of indebtedness that may be incurred. Accordingly, subject to compliance with outstanding debt covenants, we

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could incur more debt, resulting in an increased risk of default on our obligations and an increase in debt service requirements that could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

The mortgages on properties that are subject to secured debt, our Credit Facility and the indentures under which a substantial portion of our debt was issued contain customary restrictions, requirements and other limitations, as well as certain financial and operating covenants including maintenance of certain financial ratios. Maintaining compliance with these restrictions could limit our flexibility. A default in these requirements, if uncured, could result in a requirement that we repay indebtedness, which could materially adversely affect our liquidity and increase our financing costs. Refer to Item 7. “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” for further discussion.

A substantial portion of our debt is subject to prepayment penalties or premiums that we will be obligated to pay in the event that we elect to prepay the debt prior to the earlier of (i) its stated maturity or (ii) another stated date. If we elect to prepay a significant amount of outstanding debt, our prepayment penalties or payments under these provisions could materially adversely affect our results of operations.

The phase-out of LIBOR and transition to SOFR as a benchmark interest rate will have uncertain and possibly adverse effects.

In 2018, the Alternative Reference Rate Committee (the "AARC") recommended the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) as the alternative to LIBOR. SOFR is a broad measure of the cost of borrowing cash overnight collateralized by U.S. Treasury securities, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. While we expect LIBOR to be available in substantially its current form until at least the end of June 30, 2023, it is possible that LIBOR will become unavailable prior to that point. Due to the broad use of LIBOR as a reference rate, the impact of this transition on the interest rates charged to the Company could possibly adversely affect our financing costs, including spread pricing on our Credit Facility and variable rate unsecured term loans (the "Term Loans") and certain other floating rate debt obligations, as well as our operations and cash flows. Additionally, although SOFR is the AARC's recommended replacement rate, it is also possible that lenders may instead choose alternative replacement rates that may differ from LIBOR in ways similar to SOFR or in ways that would result in higher interest costs for us. It is not yet possible to predict the magnitude of LIBOR's end on our borrowing costs given the remaining uncertainty about which rate(s) will replace LIBOR.

Failure to maintain our current credit ratings could adversely affect our cost of funds, related margins, liquidity and access to capital markets.

There are two major debt rating agencies that routinely evaluate and rate our debt. Their ratings are based on a number of factors, which include their assessment of our financial strength, liquidity, capital structure, asset quality, amount of real estate under development, and sustainability of cash flow and earnings, among other factors. If market conditions change, we may not be able to maintain our current credit ratings, which could adversely affect our cost of funds and related margins, liquidity and access to capital markets.

The form, timing and/or amount of dividend distributions in future periods may vary and be impacted by our revenue generation, other liquidity needs and economic and other considerations.

The form, timing and/or amount of dividend distributions will be declared at the discretion of the Board of Directors and will depend on our rental revenue, actual cash from operations, our financial condition, capital requirements, the annual distribution requirements under the REIT provisions of the Code and other factors as the Board of Directors may consider relevant. The Board of Directors may modify our dividend policy from time to time.

We may experience barriers to selling apartment communities that could limit financial flexibility.

Potential difficulties in promptly selling real estate at prices we find acceptable may limit our ability to quickly change or reduce the apartment communities in our portfolio in response to changes in economic, regulatory, or other conditions. Federal tax laws may also limit our ability to sell properties when desired. See “Risks related to our REIT or tax status” section for more information on federal tax law risks.

Risks related to ongoing operations of our communities

Rent control and other changes in applicable laws, or noncompliance with applicable laws, could adversely affect our operations or expose us to liability.

We must develop, construct and operate our communities in compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations, some of which may conflict with one another or be subject to limited judicial or regulatory interpretations. These laws and regulations

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may include zoning laws, building codes, landlord/tenant laws and other laws generally applicable to business operations. Noncompliance with laws could expose us to liability. Lower revenue growth or significant unanticipated expenditures may result from our need to comply with changes in (i) laws imposing remediation requirements or other conditions, (ii) rent control or rent stabilization laws or other residential landlord/tenant laws, or (iii) other governmental rules and regulations or enforcement policies affecting the development, use and operation of our communities, including changes to building codes and fire and life-safety codes.

We have seen a recent increase in states and municipalities implementing, considering or being urged by advocacy groups to consider rent control or rent stabilization laws and regulations or take other actions that could limit the amount by which we can raise rents or charge non-rent fees. For example, in 2019 the State of California adopted statewide rent control for communities older than fifteen years, limiting rent increases to the lesser of 10% or 5% plus local CPI. Also in 2019 the State of New York adopted new rules for rent-controlled and rent-stabilized units that revised and limited the way rent increases are calculated for renewal leases, basing increases solely on rent actually paid and eliminating the ability to increase the renewal rent to a higher “registered rent.” Furthermore, in California the Governor has the ability to enact local or statewide states of emergency which limit our ability to increase new and renewal rents more than 10% over the rent in place on the date such state of emergency was declared, which has impacted some of our California communities. Current and future enactments of rent control or rent stabilization laws or other laws regulating multi-family housing may limit our ability to charge market rents, increase rents, evict tenants or recover increases in our operating expenses and could make it more difficult for us to dispose of properties in certain circumstances. Expenses associated with our investment in these communities, such as debt service, real estate taxes, insurance and maintenance costs, are generally not reduced when circumstances cause a reduction in rental income from the community.

Short-term leases expose us to the effects of declining market rents.

Substantially all of our apartment leases are for a term of one year or less. Because these leases generally permit the residents to leave at the end of the lease term without penalty, our rental revenues are impacted by declines in market rents more quickly than if our leases were for longer terms.

Competition could limit our ability to lease apartment homes or increase or maintain rents.

Our apartment communities compete with other apartment operators as well as rental housing alternatives, such as single-family homes for rent and short term furnished offerings such as those available from extended stay hotels or through on-line listing services. In addition, our residents and prospective residents also consider, as an alternative to renting, the purchase of a new or existing condominium or single-family home. Competitive residential housing could adversely affect our ability to lease apartment homes and to increase or maintain rental rates.

Unfavorable changes in market and economic conditions could adversely affect occupancy, rental rates, operating expenses, and the overall market value of our real estate assets.

Local conditions in our markets significantly affect occupancy, rental rates and the operating performance of our communities, and may be adversely affected by the following risks:

•corporate restructurings and/or layoffs, and industry slowdowns;

•an oversupply of, or a reduced demand for, apartment homes;

•a decline in household formation or employment or lack of employment growth;

•the inability or unwillingness of residents to pay rent increases; and

•economic conditions that could cause an increase in our operating expenses, such as increases in property taxes, utilities, compensation of on-site associates and routine maintenance.

Risks related to commercial operations

Although we are primarily in the multifamily rental business, we also own and lease ancillary commercial space. Gross rental revenue provided by leased commercial space in our portfolio represented 1.4% of our total revenue in 2021. The long term nature of our commercial leases and characteristics of many of our tenants (small, local businesses) may subject us to certain risks. We may not be able to lease new space for rents that are consistent with our projections or at market rates. Also, when leases for our existing commercial space expire, the space may not be relet or the terms of reletting, including the cost of allowances and concessions to tenants, may be less favorable than the current lease terms. Our properties compete with other properties with commercial space. The presence of competitive alternatives may affect our ability to lease space and the level of rents we can obtain. If our commercial tenants experience financial distress or bankruptcy, they may fail to comply with their contractual obligations, seek concessions in order to continue operations or cease their operations, which could adversely impact our results of operations and financial condition.

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Risks related to our REIT or tax status

Failure to qualify as a REIT would cause us to be taxed as a corporation, which would significantly reduce funds available for distribution to stockholders.

If we fail to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, we will be subject to regular federal corporate income tax on our taxable income. In addition, unless we are entitled to relief under applicable statutory provisions, we would be ineligible to make an election for treatment as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year we lose our qualification. The additional tax liability resulting from the failure to qualify as a REIT would significantly reduce or eliminate the amount of funds available for distribution to our stockholders. Furthermore, we would no longer be required to make distributions to our stockholders. Thus, our failure to qualify as a REIT could also impair our ability to expand our business and raise capital and would adversely affect the value of our common stock.

We believe that we are organized and qualified as a REIT, and we intend to operate in a manner that will allow us to continue to qualify as a REIT. However, we cannot assure you that we are qualified as a REIT, or that we will remain qualified in the future. This is because qualification as a REIT involves the application of highly technical and complex provisions of the Code for which there are only limited judicial and administrative interpretations and involves the determination of a variety of factual matters and circumstances not entirely within our control. Our qualification as a REIT depends on our satisfaction of certain asset, income, organizational, distribution, shareholder ownership and other requirements on a continuing basis. In addition, future legislation, new regulations, administrative interpretations or court decisions may significantly change the tax laws or the application of the tax laws with respect to qualification as a REIT for federal income tax purposes or the federal income tax consequences of this qualification.

Even if we qualify as a REIT, we will be subject to certain federal, state and local taxes on our income and property and on taxable income that we do not distribute to our stockholders. In addition, we hold certain assets and engage in certain activities through our taxable REIT subsidiaries that a REIT could not engage in directly. We also use taxable REIT subsidiaries to hold certain assets that we believe would be subject to the 100% prohibited transaction tax if sold at a gain outside of a taxable REIT subsidiary or to engage in activities that generate non-qualifying REIT income. Our taxable REIT subsidiaries are subject to federal income tax as regular corporations.

We may choose to pay dividends in our own stock, in which case stockholders may be required to pay tax in excess of the cash they receive.

We may distribute taxable dividends that are payable in part in our stock. Taxable stockholders receiving such dividends will be required to include the full amount of the dividend as income to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits for federal income tax purposes. As a result, a U.S. stockholder may be required to pay tax with respect to such dividends in excess of the cash dividend received. If a U.S. stockholder sells the stock it receives as a dividend in order to pay this tax, the sales proceeds may be less than the amount included in income with respect to the dividend, depending on the market price of our stock at the time of the sale. Furthermore, with respect to non-U.S. stockholders, we may be required to withhold U.S. tax with respect to such dividends, including in respect of all or a portion of such dividend that is payable in stock. In addition, the trading price of our stock would experience downward pressure if a significant number of our stockholders sell shares of our stock in order to pay taxes owed on dividends.

We may experience regulatory and federal tax barriers to selling apartment communities that could limit financial flexibility.

Federal tax laws may limit our ability to earn a gain on the sale of a community (unless we own it through a subsidiary which will incur a taxable gain upon sale) if we are found to have held, acquired or developed the community primarily with the intent to resell the community, and this limitation may affect our ability to sell communities without adversely affecting returns to our stockholders.

From time to time we dispose of properties in transactions intended to qualify as “like-kind exchanges” under Section 1031 of the Code. If a transaction intended to qualify as a Section 1031 exchange is later determined to be taxable, we may face adverse tax consequences, and if the laws applicable to such transactions are amended or repealed, we may not be able to dispose of properties on a tax deferred basis.

We may be subject to adverse legislative or regulatory tax changes that could reduce the market price of our common stock or debt securities.

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At any time, the federal income tax laws governing REITs or the administrative interpretations of those laws may be amended. We cannot predict when or if any new federal income tax law, regulation, or administrative interpretation, or any amendment to any existing federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation, will be adopted, promulgated or become effective and any such law, regulation, or interpretation may take effect retroactively. We and our stockholders and holders of our debt securities could be adversely affected by any such change in, or any new, federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation.

Risks that may not be insured in full or in part

We are exposed to risks that are either uninsurable, not economically insurable or in excess of our insurance coverage, including risks discussed below.

Insurance coverage for various risks can be costly and in limited supply. As a result, we may experience shortages in desired coverage levels if market conditions are such that insurance is not available or the cost of insurance makes it, in the Company's view, economically impractical. Incidents that directly or indirectly damage our communities, both physically and financially, or cause losses that exceed our insurance coverage could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations including increased maintenance, repair, and delays in construction. In addition, we would also continue to be obligated to repay any mortgage indebtedness or other obligations related to the community which could have a material adverse effect on our business and our financial condition and results of operations. The following risks are uninsurable or insurance coverage is limited due to premium rates (See Item 2. “Properties—Insurance and Risk of Uninsured Losses”):

•Earthquake risk. As further described in Item 2. “Properties—Insurance and Risk of Uninsured Losses,” many of our West Coast communities are located in the general vicinity of active earthquake faults. Insurance coverage for earthquakes can be costly and in limited supply.

•Climate and severe or inclement weather risk. Many of our markets, particularly those located in coastal cities, are exposed to risks associated with inclement or severe weather including those arising from climate change such as hurricanes, severe winter storms and coastal flooding.

•Terrorism and other risk. We have significant investments in large metropolitan markets, such as Metro New York/New Jersey and Washington, D.C., which have in the past been or may in the future be the target of actual or threatened terrorist attacks. We carry commercial general liability insurance, property insurance and terrorism insurance with respect to our communities on terms and in amounts we consider commercially reasonable. There are, however, certain types of losses (such as losses arising from acts of war) that are not insured, in full or in part, because they are either uninsurable or the cost of insurance makes it, in the Company's view, economically impractical.

We may incur costs related to climate change.

To the extent that significant changes in the climate occur in areas where our communities are located, we may experience extreme weather and changes in precipitation and temperature, all of which may result in physical damage to or a decrease in demand for properties located in these areas or affected by these conditions. In addition, changes in federal, state and local regulations based on concerns about climate change could result in increased capital expenditures or operating expenses on our existing properties (for example, requiring retrofitting of existing systems) and our new development properties (for example, to improve energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and/or improve resistance to inclement weather) without a corresponding increase in revenue, resulting in adverse impacts to our net income.

We may incur costs due to environmental contamination or non-compliance.

Under various public health laws and regulations, we may be required, regardless of knowledge or responsibility, to investigate and remediate the presence or effects of hazardous or toxic substances such as asbestos, lead paint, chemical vapors from soils or groundwater, petroleum product releases, and natural substances such as methane and radon gas. We may be held liable under these laws or common law to a governmental entity or to third parties for property, personal injury or natural resources damages and for investigation and remediation costs incurred as a result of the contamination. These damages and costs may be substantial and may exceed any insurance coverage we have for such events. The presence of these substances, or the failure to properly remediate or contain the contamination, may adversely affect our ability to borrow against, develop, sell or rent the affected property. In addition, some environmental laws create or allow a government agency to impose a lien on the contaminated site in favor of the government for damages and costs it incurs as a result of the contamination.

The development, construction and operation of our communities are subject to regulations and permitting under various federal, state and local laws, regulations and ordinances, which regulate matters including wetlands protection, storm water runoff and wastewater discharge. These laws and regulations may impose restrictions on the manner in which our communities

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may be developed, and noncompliance with these laws and regulations may subject us to fines and penalties and may subject us to liability in connection with personal injury.

Certain laws and regulations govern the removal, encapsulation or disturbance of asbestos containing materials (“ACMs”) when such materials are in poor condition or in the event of renovation or demolition of a building. These laws and the common law may impose liability for release of ACMs and may allow third parties to seek recovery from owners or operators of real properties for personal injury associated with exposure to ACMs. We are not aware that any ACMs were used in the construction of the communities we developed. ACMs were, however, used in the construction of a number of the communities that we have acquired. Although we implement an operations and maintenance program at each of the communities at which ACMs are detected, we may fail to adequately observe such program or a disturbance of ACMs may occur nevertheless, exposing us to liability. We are aware that some of our communities have lead paint and have implemented an operations and maintenance program at each of those communities.

All of our stabilized operating communities, and all of the communities that we are currently developing, have been subjected to at least a Phase I or similar environmental assessment, which generally does not involve invasive techniques such as soil or groundwater sampling. These assessments, together with subsurface assessments conducted on some properties, have not revealed, and we are not otherwise aware of, any environmental conditions that we believe would have a material adverse effect on our business, assets, financial condition or results of operations. In connection with our ownership, operation and development of communities, from time to time we undertake substantial remedial action in response to the presence of subsurface or other contaminants, including contaminants in soil, groundwater and soil vapor beneath or affecting our buildings. In some cases, an indemnity exists upon which we may be able to rely if environmental liability arises from the contamination or remediation costs exceed estimates. There can be no assurance, however, that all necessary remediation actions have been or will be undertaken at our properties or that we will be indemnified, in full or at all, in the event that environmental liability arises.

Mold growth may occur when excessive moisture accumulates in buildings or on building materials, particularly if the moisture problem remains undiscovered or is not addressed over a period of time. Certain molds may in some instances lead to adverse health effects, including allergic or other reactions. We cannot provide assurance that mold or excessive moisture will be detected and remediated in a timely manner. If a significant mold problem arises at one of our communities, we could be required to undertake a costly remediation program to contain or remove the mold from the affected community and could be exposed to other liabilities that may exceed any applicable insurance coverage.

Additionally, we have occasionally been involved in developing, managing, leasing and operating various properties for third parties. Consequently, we may be considered to have been an operator of such properties and, therefore, potentially liable for removal or remediation costs or other potential costs which relate to the release or presence of hazardous or toxic substances or petroleum products at such properties.

We cannot assure you that:

•the environmental assessments described above have identified all potential environmental liabilities;

•no prior owner created any material environmental condition not known to us or the consultants who prepared the assessments;

•no environmental liabilities have developed since the environmental assessments were prepared;

•the condition of land or operations in the vicinity of our communities, such as the presence of underground storage tanks, will not affect the environmental condition of our communities;

•future uses or conditions, including, without limitation, changes in applicable environmental laws and regulations, will not result in the imposition of environmental liability; and

•no environmental liabilities will arise at communities that we have sold for which we may have liability.

General Risk Factors

The ability of our stockholders to control our policies and effect a change of control of our company is limited by certain provisions of our charter and bylaws and by Maryland law.

There are provisions in our charter and bylaws that may discourage a third party from making a proposal to acquire us. These provisions include the following:

Our charter authorizes our Board of Directors to issue up to 50,000,000 shares of preferred stock without stockholder approval and to establish the preferences and rights, including voting rights, of any series of preferred stock issued. This could allow the Board to issue one or more classes or series of preferred stock that could discourage or delay a tender offer or a change in control.

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To maintain our qualification as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, not more than 50% in value of our outstanding stock may be owned, directly or indirectly, by or for five or fewer individuals at any time during the last half of any taxable year. To maintain this qualification, and/or to address other concerns about concentrations of ownership of our stock, our charter generally prohibits ownership (directly, indirectly by virtue of the attribution provisions of the Code, or beneficially as defined in Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act) by any single stockholder of more than 9.8% of the issued and outstanding shares of any class or series of our stock. In general, under our charter, pension plans and mutual funds may directly and beneficially own up to 15% of the outstanding shares of any class or series of stock. Under our charter, our Board of Directors may in its sole discretion waive or modify the ownership limit for one or more persons, but it is not required to do so even if such waiver would not affect our qualification as a REIT. These ownership limits may prevent or delay a change in control and, as a result, could adversely affect our stockholders' ability to realize a premium for their shares of common stock.

As a Maryland corporation, we are subject to the provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law. Maryland law restricts some business combinations and requires compliance with statutory procedures before some mergers and acquisitions may occur, which may delay or prevent offers to acquire us or increase the difficulty of completing any offers, even if they are in our stockholders' best interests. In addition, other provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law permit the Board of Directors to make elections and to take actions without stockholder approval (such as classifying our Board such that the entire Board is not up for re-election annually) that, if made or taken, could have the effect of discouraging or delaying a change in control.

Changes in U.S. accounting standards may materially and adversely affect the reporting of our operations.

The Company follows accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). GAAP is established by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”), an independent body whose standards are recognized by the SEC as authoritative for publicly held companies. The FASB and the SEC create and interpret accounting standards and may issue new accounting pronouncements or change the interpretation and application of these standards that govern the preparation of our financial statements. These changes could have a material impact on our reported consolidated results of operations and financial position.

We rely on information technology in our operations, and any breach, interruption or security failure of that technology, or any non-compliance with applicable laws with respect to the use of that technology, could have a negative impact on our business, results of operations, financial condition and/or reputation.

Information security risks have generally increased in recent years due to the rise in new technologies and the increased sophistication and activities of perpetrators of cyber attacks.

We collect and hold personally identifiable information of our residents and prospective residents in connection with our leasing and property management activities, and we collect and hold personally identifiable information of our associates in connection with their employment. In addition, we engage third party service providers that may have access to such personally identifiable information in connection with providing necessary information technology and security and other business services to us.

There can be no assurance that we will be able to prevent unauthorized access to this information. Any failure in or breach of our operational or information security systems, or those of our third party service providers, as a result of cyber attacks or information security breaches, could result in a wide range of potentially serious harm to our business operations and financial prospects, including (among others) disruption of our business and operations, disclosure or misuse of confidential or proprietary information (including personal information of our residents and/or associates), damage to our reputation, and/or potentially significant legal and/or financial liabilities and penalties.

Various laws and regulations and interpretations thereof, as well as agreements with payment processors, require, or may require, us to comply with rules related to our websites for use by residents and prospective residents, including requirements related to accessibility of our websites to persons with disabilities and our handling and use of data we collect. We could face liabilities for failure to comply with these requirements. New statutes, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), and related regulations are evolving and may be subject to differing interpretations. We could incur costs to comply with stricter and more complex data privacy, data collection and information security laws and standards.

Our success depends on key personnel whose continued service is not guaranteed.

Our success depends in part on our ability to attract and retain the services of executive officers and other personnel. Our executive officers make important capital allocation decisions or recommendations to our Board of Directors from among the

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opportunities identified by our regional offices. There is substantial competition for qualified personnel in the real estate industry, and the loss of our key personnel could adversely affect the Company.

ITEM 1B.    UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

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ITEM 2.    PROPERTIES

Our real estate investments consist primarily of current operating apartment communities ("Current Communities"), consolidated and unconsolidated communities in various stages of development ("Development" communities and "Unconsolidated Development" communities) and Development Rights (as defined below). Our Current Communities are further classified as Same Store communities, Other Stabilized communities, Lease-Up communities, Redevelopment communities and Unconsolidated communities. While we generally establish the classification of communities on an annual basis, we update the classification of communities during the calendar year to the extent that our plans with regard to the disposition or redevelopment of a community change. The following is a description of each category:

Current Communities are categorized as Same Store, Other Stabilized, Lease-Up, Redevelopment, or Unconsolidated according to the following attributes:

•Same Store for the year ended December 31, 2021 is composed of consolidated communities where a comparison of operating results from the prior year to the current year is meaningful as these communities were owned and had stabilized occupancy as of the beginning of the respective prior year period. For the year ended December 31, 2021, Same Store communities are consolidated for financial reporting purposes, had stabilized occupancy as of January 1, 2020, are not conducting or are not probable to conduct substantial redevelopment activities and are not held for sale or probable for disposition to unrelated third parties within the current year. A community is considered to have stabilized occupancy at the earlier of (i) attainment of 90% physical occupancy or (ii) the one-year anniversary of completion of development or redevelopment.

•Other Stabilized is composed of completed consolidated communities that we own and that are not Same Store but which have stabilized occupancy, as defined above, as of January 1, 2021, or which were acquired subsequent to January 1, 2020. Other Stabilized includes stabilized operating communities in Charlotte, North Carolina and Dallas, Texas, the two new expansion markets we entered in 2021, but excludes communities that are conducting or are probable to conduct substantial redevelopment activities within the current year, as defined below.

•Lease-Up is composed of consolidated communities where construction has been complete for less than one year and that do not have stabilized occupancy.

•Redevelopment is composed of consolidated communities where substantial redevelopment is in progress or is probable to begin during the current year. Redevelopment is considered substantial when (i) capital invested during the reconstruction effort is expected to exceed the lesser of $5,000,000 or 10% of the community's pre-redevelopment basis and (ii) physical occupancy is below or is expected to be below 90% during, or as a result of, the redevelopment activity.

•Unconsolidated is composed of communities that we have an indirect ownership interest in through our investment interest in an unconsolidated joint venture.

Development is composed of consolidated communities that are either currently under construction, or were under construction and were completed during the current year. These communities may be partially or fully complete and operating.

Unconsolidated Development is composed of communities that are either currently under construction, or were under construction and were completed during the current year, in which we have an indirect ownership interest through our investment interest in an unconsolidated joint venture. These communities may be partially or fully complete and operating.

Development Rights are development opportunities in the early phase of the development process where we either have an option to acquire land or enter into a leasehold interest, where we are the buyer under a long-term conditional contract to purchase land, where we control the land through a ground lease or own land to develop a new community, or where we are the designated developer in a public-private partnership. We capitalize related pre-development costs incurred in pursuit of new developments for which we currently believe future development is probable.

We currently lease our corporate headquarters located in Arlington, Virginia, as well as our other regional and administrative offices, under operating leases.

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As of December 31, 2021, communities that we owned or held a direct or indirect interest in were classified as follows:

	Number of communities	Number of apartment homes
Current Communities
Same Store:
New England	37	9,536
Metro NY/NJ	41	11,828
Mid-Atlantic	39	13,645
Southeast Florida	4	1,214
Denver, CO	4	1,086
Pacific Northwest	16	4,217
Northern California	39	11,831
Southern California	57	16,763
Total Same Store	237	70,120
Other Stabilized:
New England	2	478
Metro NY/NJ	4	1,290
Mid-Atlantic	1	384
North Carolina	3	500
Southeast Florida	2	623
Texas	1	425
Denver, CO	—	—
Pacific Northwest	3	964
Northern California	1	289
Southern California	—	—
Total Other Stabilized	17	4,953
Lease-Up	13	3,796
Redevelopment	1	344
Unconsolidated	10	2,590
Total Current	278	81,803
Development	17	5,386
Unconsolidated Development	2	803
Total Communities	297	87,992
Development Rights	24	8,070

Our holdings under each of the above categories are discussed on the following pages.

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We generally establish the composition of our Same Store communities portfolio annually. Changes in the Same Store communities portfolios for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 were as follows:

	Number of communities
Same Store communities as of December 31, 2018	194
Communities added	22
Communities removed (1)
Redevelopment communities	(2)
Disposed communities	(3)
Other Stabilized (2)	(1)
Same Store communities as of December 31, 2019	210
Communities added	32
Communities removed (1)
Redevelopment communities	(1)
Disposed communities	(9)
Same Store communities as of December 31, 2020	232
Communities added	15
Communities removed (1)
Redevelopment communities	—
Disposed communities	(9)
Other Stabilized (2)	(1)
Same Store communities as of December 31, 2021	237

_________________________________

(1)    We remove a community from our Same Store portfolio if we believe that planned activity for the upcoming year will result in that community's expected operations not being comparable to the prior year, including (i) when we intend to undertake a significant capital renovation, such that the community will be classified as a Redevelopment community; (ii) when we intend to dispose of a community; or (iii) when a significant casualty loss occurs.

(2)    Community was moved from the Same Store portfolio to the Other Stabilized portfolio as a result of a casualty loss that occurred during the year and impacted operations.

Current Communities

Our Current Communities include garden-style apartment communities consisting of multi-story buildings of stacked flats and/or townhome apartments in landscaped settings, as well as mid and high rise apartment communities consisting of larger elevator-served buildings of four or more stories, frequently with structured parking. As of January 31, 2022, our Current Communities consisted of the following:

	Number of communities	Number of apartment homes
Garden-style	131	40,058
Mid-rise	119	33,303
High-rise	28	8,442
Total Current Communities	278	81,803

As discussed in Item 1. “Business,” we operate under four core brands: Avalon, AVA, eaves by Avalon and Kanso . We believe that this branding differentiation allows us to target our product offerings to multiple customer groups and submarkets within our existing geographic footprint.

We also have an extensive and ongoing maintenance program to continually maintain and enhance our communities and apartment homes. The aesthetic appeal of our communities, and a service-oriented property management team that is focused on the specific needs of residents, enhances market appeal. We believe our mission of Creating a Better Way To Live helps us achieve higher rental rates and occupancy levels while minimizing resident turnover and operating expenses.

Our Current Communities are located in the following geographic markets:

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	Number of communities at		Number of apartment homes at		Percentage of total apartment homes at
	1/31/2021	1/31/2022	1/31/2021	1/31/2022	1/31/2021		1/31/2022
New England	45	43	11,487	10,552	14.4	%	12.9	%
Boston, MA	40	39	10,541	9,917	13.2	%	12.1	%
Fairfield, CT	5	4	946	635	1.2	%	0.8	%
Metro NY/NJ	54	52	15,528	15,261	19.4	%	18.6	%
New York City, NY	14	14	5,089	5,089	6.4	%	6.2	%
New York Suburban	18	16	4,464	4,577	5.6	%	5.6	%
New Jersey	22	22	5,975	5,595	7.4	%	6.8	%
Mid-Atlantic	43	46	14,902	15,924	18.7	%	19.5	%
Washington Metro	38	40	13,340	13,962	16.7	%	17.1	%
Baltimore, MD	5	6	1,562	1,962	2.0	%	2.4	%
North Carolina	—	3	—	500	—	%	0.6	%
Charlotte, NC	—	3	—	500	—	%	0.6	%
Florida	5	7	1,564	2,187	2.0	%	2.7	%
Southeast Florida	5	7	1,564	2,187	2.0	%	2.7	%
Texas	—	1	—	425	—	%	0.5	%
Dallas, TX	—	1	—	425	—	%	0.5	%
Colorado	4	4	1,086	1,086	1.4	%	1.3	%
Denver, CO	4	4	1,086	1,086	1.4	%	1.3	%
Pacific Northwest	20	20	5,451	5,474	6.8	%	6.7	%
Seattle, WA	20	20	5,451	5,474	6.8	%	6.7	%
Northern California	42	42	12,629	12,633	15.8	%	15.5	%
San Jose, CA	12	12	4,713	4,717	5.9	%	5.8	%
Oakland-East Bay, CA	15	15	4,336	4,336	5.4	%	5.3	%
San Francisco, CA	15	15	3,580	3,580	4.5	%	4.4	%
Southern California	59	60	17,209	17,761	21.5	%	21.7	%
Los Angeles, CA	39	41	11,773	12,624	14.7	%	15.4	%
Orange County, CA	12	12	3,370	3,370	4.2	%	4.1	%
San Diego, CA	8	7	2,066	1,767	2.6	%	2.2	%
	272	278	79,856	81,803	100.0	%	100.0	%

We manage and operate substantially all of our Current Communities. During the year ended December 31, 2021, we completed construction of nine communities containing 2,752 apartment homes and sold 11 operating communities containing 2,933 apartment homes. The age of our Current Communities, on a weighted average basis according to number of apartment homes, is 19.7 years. When adjusted to reflect redevelopment activity, as if redevelopment were a new construction completion date, the weighted average age of our Current Communities is 10.6 years.

Of the Current Communities, as of January 31, 2022, we owned (directly or through wholly-owned subsidiaries):

•266 operating communities, including 259 with a full fee simple, or absolute, ownership interest and seven that are on land subject to a land lease. The land leases have various expiration dates from July 2046 to April 2106, and three of the land leases are used to support tax advantaged structures that ultimately allow us to purchase the land upon lease expiration.

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•A general partnership interest in Archstone Multifamily Partners AC LP (the “U.S. Fund”), subsidiaries of which own three operating communities.

•A membership interest in four limited liability companies. One of the ventures, the NYTA MF Investors LLC, through subsidiaries owns a fee simple interest in three operating communities and a leasehold interest in two additional operating communities. The other three ventures that each hold a fee simple interest in an operating community, one of which is consolidated for financial reporting purposes.

•A general partnership interest in one partnership structured as a “DownREIT,” which is consolidated and owns one community. In this partnership, one of our wholly-owned subsidiaries is the general partner. Limited partners are entitled to receive an initial distribution before any distribution is made to the general partner. The distributions per unit paid to the holders of units of limited partnership interests are equal to our current common stock dividend amount. The limited partnership interests have the right to present all or some of their units for redemption for a cash amount based on the fair value of our common stock. In lieu of a cash redemption by the partnership, we may elect to acquire any unit presented for redemption for one share of our common stock. At January 31, 2022, there were 7,500 DownREIT partnership units outstanding.

In addition to our Current Communities, we also hold, directly or through wholly-owned subsidiaries, a full fee simple ownership interest in our wholly-owned Development Communities, a membership interest in two limited liability companies that each hold an interest in an Unconsolidated Development Community, and a wholly-owned mixed-use project with for-sale condominiums.

Development Communities

As of December 31, 2021, we owned or held a direct interest in 17 Development Communities under construction. We expect these Development Communities, when completed, to add a total of 5,386 apartment homes and 40,000 square feet of commercial space to our portfolio for a total capitalized cost, including land acquisition costs, of approximately $2,140,000,000. We cannot assure you that we will meet our schedule for construction completion or that we will meet our budgeted costs, either individually, or in the aggregate. You should carefully review Item 1A. “Risk Factors” for a discussion of the risks associated with development activity and our discussion under Item 7. “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” (including the factors identified under “Forward-Looking Statements”) for further discussion of development activity.

The following table presents a summary of the Development Communities.

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		Number of apartment homes	Projected total capitalized cost (1) ($ millions)		Construction start	Initial projected or actual occupancy (2)	Estimated completion	Estimated stabilized operations (3)
1.	Avalon Harrison (4) Harrison, NY	143	$	88	Q4 2018	Q3 2021	Q3 2022	Q1 2023
2.	Avalon Brea Place Brea, CA	653	290		Q2 2019	Q1 2021	Q3 2022	Q1 2023
3.	Avalon Foundry Row Owings Mill, MD	437	100		Q2 2019	Q1 2021	Q1 2022	Q3 2022
4.	Avalon Woburn Woburn, MA	350	121		Q4 2019	Q3 2021	Q1 2022	Q3 2022
5.	AVA RiNo Denver, CO	246	87		Q4 2019	Q4 2021	Q1 2022	Q3 2022
6.	Avalon Harbor Isle Island Park, NY	172	91		Q4 2020	Q1 2022	Q3 2022	Q1 2023
7.	Avalon Somerville Station Somerville, NJ	375	117		Q4 2020	Q2 2022	Q3 2023	Q1 2024
8.	Avalon North Andover North Andover, MA	170	56		Q2 2021	Q4 2022	Q1 2023	Q3 2023
9.	Avalon Brighton Boston, MA	180