The upgraded recommendation, announced today, didn't increaseinterest in buying of selling the stock, which remained unchangedfrom Thursday at $30.62 on volume of just 26,000 shares. Averagedaily volume is 123,000 shares.

BRE Properties has been garnering attention lately for itsefforts to capitalize on the trend toward broadband Internetconnections and property management automation software. BRE wantsto transform its holdings into "smart" properties that it hopes itwill generate increased tenant interest, Web profits and requestsfor its services by other apartment owners.

BRE's efforts, called "Project Velocity," was launched in Marchand spun off in August as VelocityHSI, a Walnut Creek,California-based high-speed Internet access provider. According tosources, VelocityHSI will close deals soon to wire more than100,000 apartments.