Benjamin Schall

In 2026, Benjamin Schall took control of the biggest apartment ownership company in the nation. 

Previously the head of AvalonBay Communities, Schall in August became CEO of Vivmark Residential, a $71 billion entity created after AvalonBay’s stunning marriage with rival Equity Residential became official that month, solidifying the single largest public real estate investment trust merger ever. 

Schall plans to leverage efficiencies both firms share across the combined platform, internal strengths that include artificial intelligence and technology developed by each firm over the years, a dataset of more than 4 million lease transactions from 60 million current and former customers, along with an existing $4.4 billion construction pipeline that stretches across 11 states. 

“With the combined scale, capabilities and talent of both organizations, we have a rare opportunity to redefine what rental housing can be,” Schall said in a statement after the merger was announced in late May. 

California has always been a growth market for both AvalonBay and Equity, with the Golden State holding 38 percent and 25 percent of each firm’s portfolio, respectively. 

Of AvalonBay’s 79,473 owned apartments, 30,219 are in California, while 19,381 of Equity’s 78,385 apartment units are in either Orange County or the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings from each firm. 

All told, today Vivmark Residential owns 221 communities in California, containing over 64,000 apartment homes, the firm told CO. 

Moreover, of all independent markets across AvalonBay and Equity’s two portfolios, California is the single biggest revenue generator for each company, according to the most recent SEC data.  

One signature deal the newly combined firm has its eyes on is in San Ramon, Calif., where AvalonBay Communities purchased 5.7 acres of the old Chevron headquarters in December 2025 with the intention of building Avalon San Ramon, a two-building luxury residential community of 456 apartments within a larger master-planned development. Construction is scheduled to end by late 2027. 

“Our vision is to be the most trusted and best-performing rental housing company in America and one that gets better as it grows,” Schall said in a statement after the merger was finalized.