AvalonBay: Announces Annual Meeting

                         AvalonBay Communities, Inc. 

For Immediate Release
March 18, 1999


                       AvalonBay Announces Annual Meeting


(Alexandria, VA)  AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE/PCX Symbol: AVB) announced
today that its 1999 Annual Meeting, for shareholders of record as of the close
of business on March 22, 1999, will be held on Wednesday, May 5, 1999 at
9:30AM.  The meeting will be held at the Hyatt Regency, Reston Town Center,
1800 Presidents Street, Reston, Virginia 20190.  The phone number of the Hyatt
Regency is (703) 709-1234.  All shareholders of record are invited to attend. 
The Company also announced that the Board of Directors has amended the
Company's bylaws to provide that the annual meeting will be held each year on
the second Wednesday of May, or on another date, which is not more than 15 days
prior to or after the second Wednesday of May, as may be fixed by the Board of
Directors.

About AvalonBay Communities, Inc.
AvalonBay, named the NAHB Development Company of the year for 1998/1999 and the
Property Management Company of the Year for 1996/1997, owns or holds an
ownership interest in 141 apartment communities containing 41,172 apartment
homes in sixteen states and the District of Columbia, of which presently
fourteen communities are under construction and thirteen communities are under
reconstruction.  AvalonBay is an equity REIT in the business of developing,
redeveloping, 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.  For
additional information regarding this news release, please contact Richard L.
Michaux, Chief Executive Officer at (703) 317-4602 or Edward M. Schulman, Vice
President, General Counsel, at (703) 317-4739.

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Copyright (c) 1999 AvalonBay Communities, Inc.  All Rights Reserved


Ends.