DENVER-Archstone-Smith Trust, a locally based apartment REIT, agreed to sell 12.05 shares of its common stock, which would generate $500 million in gross proceeds. Morgan Stanley & Co. is the sole book running manager for the offering.

The money, after payment of the discount and offering expenses, will be used to pay down Archstone-Smith's credit facilities, including a short-term bridge loan the company put in place following the closing of its Oakwood acquisition. The total outstanding balance on these credit facilities is currently approximately $690 million. This transaction, together with the incremental debt capacity it gives the company, isexpected to provide the financial flexibility to fund approximately $1 billion needed to complete the company's $2.5 billion development pipeline.

Earlier, Archstone-Smith agreed to acquire as many as 30 apartment properties from Los Angeles-based Oakwood Worldwide for about $1.4 billion. The properties represent more than 10,000 units in 29 cities across the nation. In Chicago, for example, the company picked up 304 units. Oakwood will lease back and retain management of 15 of the 30 properties.

Archstone-Smith has a current capitalization of about $15.1 billion. It owns and operates high-rise and condo apartment communities in neighborhoods with high barriers to entry. Most of their apartments are concentrated in the Washington, DC area. Southern California, San Francisco Bay, New York City, Boston, Southeast Florida, Chicago and Seattle, as well as some select neighborhoods in Denver. The company owns or has an ownership interest in 252 communities with a total of 86,531 units, including units under construction.