		
                                                Contact: Alaine Walsh
                                                         Manager of Investor Relations
                                                         AvalonBay Communities, Inc.
                                                         703-317-4632
                                                         awalsh@avalonbay.com

For Immediate Release

AVALONBAY COMMUNITIES DECLARES THIRD QUARTER DIVIDENDS

Alexandria, VA (September 22, 2000) - AVALONBAY COMMUNITIES, INC. (NYSE/PCX: AVB) announced today that its Board of Directors declared dividends on the Company's Common Stock (par value $.01) and the Series C, Series D, Series F, Series G and Series H Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock for the third quarter of 2000. The Common Stock dividend is 56 cents per share and is payable on October 16, 2000 to all Common Stockholders of Record as of September 29, 2000. The Series C, Series D and Series H Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock dividends are 53.125 cents per share, 50 cents per share and 54.375 cents per share, respectively, and are payable on December 15, 2000 to all Series C, Series D and Series H Stockholders of Record as of December 1, 2000. The Series F and Series G Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock dividends are 56.25 cents per share and 56 cents per share, respectively. The Series F and Series G Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock dividends are payable on November 15, 2000 to all Series F and Series G Stockholders of Record as of November 1, 2000.

About AvalonBay Communities

AvalonBay Communities, Inc., headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, currently owns or holds an ownership interest in 133 apartment communities containing 38,977 apartment homes in 12 states and the District of Columbia, of which nine communities are under construction and six communities are under reconstruction. The fourth largest apartment equity REIT in the country, AvalonBay is in the business of developing, redeveloping, and acquiring and managing multifamily apartment communities in high barrier-to-entry markets of the United States. More information on AvalonBay may be found on AvalonBay's Web site at http://www.avalonbay.com .