GAITHERSBURG, MD-Arlington, VA-based AvalonBay Communities hasacquired two apartment complexes in suburban Washington for a totalof $146 million. AvalonBay paid $101 million for Grove Park, a684-unit apartment community here and $45 million for Briarwood, a348-unit apartment community in Owings Mills, MD. Grove Parkwas built in 1974 and renovated in 2005 and 2006. The seller wasFederal Capital Partners and Angelo, Gordon. Briarwood is an11-year-old development that includes townhomes.

The acquisitions were the fifth and sixth purchases made throughthe AvalonBay Value Added Fund II. During the recession AvalonBayrecognized far earlier than other firms that multifamily was goingto recover sooner than other sectors—a fact that is today quiteobvious. Besides snapping up properties across the nation, the REITis also launching an ambitious development program in selectmarkets. In the DC area, it plans to build Avalon Park Crest inTysons Corner, VA, for example.

In many ways, though, AvalonBay’s acquisitions here is a largerstory about DC, whose fundamentals and demographics are almosttailor-made to produce a multifamily market that will be hot foryears. The common denominator, Ari Firoozabadi, vicepresident of investments at Marcus & Millichap, tellsGlobeSt.com, is the area’s job market.