AvalonBay, Equity Residential to Merge to Create Multifamily Giant

An apartment building stands in the East Village in New York City, on May 11, 2026. Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesAvalonBay Communities and Equity Residential on May 20 announced they would join forces in an all-stock merger to create a multifamily real estate titan with an enterprise value approaching $69 billion.The merger would create a much stronger organization that would generate about $2 billion annually in cash flow to be deployed across multiple growth channels, the companies said in an investor presentation.