The name change was made in an effort to bring all ofLightstone's apartment business, which comprises roughly a third ofthe overall company, under one umbrella, says Cassidy. He joins thefirm from America First Apartment Investors Inc., where he waspresident and chief executive officer until the REIT was sold lastyear. The Cedarbridge brand, he says, will extend throughout thefirm's entire 22,000-unit multifamily platform. "Some propertieswere under the Beacon Management flag, others were referred to asLightstone," Cassidy says. "I think another reason was that theBeacon name is a relatively common one." Cedarbridge, he adds, justhappens to be one of the main streets in Lightstone's homebase.

Having just taken the helm of Cedarbridge, Cassidy admits he'sgoing through an adjustment period. The first order of business, hestresses, is to strengthen and integrate the firm's operatingplatform. "At this point, my agenda is to really get my handsaround the company and understand it a bit better," he says. "Wehave a fairly large number of assets in the Detroit area, about 19or so. We also have a large presence in New Jersey, as well asUpstate New York; Maryland; Washington, DC; North Carolina and afew properties in Florida. Part of my objective is to integrate allof these assets into one strong platform.

For instance, he continues, "Detroit has been operating as oneseparate platform because those assets were all gained from theacquisition of Home Properties. It's operating extremely well in avery challenging market and we have some great people there. I alsojust hired someone to be the regional director down in NorthCarolina. I'm finding some very good people."And next year, Cassidyrelates, "we'll probably look to grow the company--begin toformulate a strategy relative to acquisitions, see what markets togrow into and to expand in." Right now, Lightstone is in theprocess of disposing some of its assets. "We're getting some verygood prices on a couple of properties in New Jersey, which is stilla very strong market."