"We're seeking to be aggressive," says AMLI Residential president Allan J. Sweet. "Some people think acquisitions should be deferred until the economic recovery is well in hand. We're not in that camp. We believe better buys will occur before the economic recovery is well in hand, and we're trying to find properties to buy."

Most of the purchases would be with joint venture partners, Sweet adds, with Atlanta, Austin and Denver among the markets the REIT is looking hardest at. AMLI Residential's interest in the new acquisitions would likely be 25%, Sweet indicated during a conference call Wednesday.

While AMLI Residential takes an aggressive acquisition stance this year, it starts the year having written down its land holdings by more than $2 million. It now places the value of its land held for development at just under $47.9 million.

"We clearly bought too much land in relation to the development opportunities we now see," Sweet says. The REIT is analyzing its land portfolio with an eye toward deciding which parcels to develop, sell or reposition for a different use.

AMLI saw its funds from operations drop 11.7% in the fourth quarter and 6.95% for the year. Net operating income increased 2.9% across the 27,258-unit portfolio in the fourth quarter despite flat revenues.

Locally, AMLI's Chicago portfolio, consisting of 3,243 units in nine suburban properties, was among the REIT's hardest hit properties in terms of occupancy. Occupancy was down 7.5 percentage points for the year to 88.4%, with average rents increasing 2.9% to $1,087 per month. Hardest hit continues to be AMLI at Oakhurst in west suburban Aurora, where occupancy fell 7.4 percentage points to 81.6%. Flat net operating income growth is projected to be flat.

"We do not see Chicago returning to pre-2001 levels until 2003," says AMLI Management Co. president Robert S. Aisner.