Type                       public
Industry                    real estate property
Founded                    1972
Headquarters                Virginia
Area served                 United States
Key people               James D. Klingbeil

Revenue                    $729.4M
Net income                   $212.2M
Income growth                 959.7%
Employees                  1633
Website                  www.udrt.com

United Dominion Realty Trust, Inc. (UDRT) is the fourth largest public apartment real estate investment trust in the United States. UDRT owns and operates more than 77,000 apartment units housed within 274 communities spread across 21 states. The company manages, develops, and renovates middle-market apartment communities, owning a portfolio including "B" to "A" quality properties, having evolved from its roots in Virginia as an owner of "C" grade properties. The company's biggest market is in Houston, followed by Dallas.

UDRT was founded as a Virginia corporation in 1972, beginning its business life as a real estate investment trust (REIT), then a relatively new corporate breed. REITs were authorized by the passage of the Real Estate Investment Act of 1960, whose purpose was to stimulate investment in real estate. As a general rule, REITs were exempt from federal income taxation provided they distributed nearly all of their taxable income as dividends to shareholders. The exemption from taxation opened the doors to investors who otherwise would have been precluded from engaging in real estate ownership and professional real estate management. For the first time, small investors, encouraged by the provisions of the Real Estate Investment Act, could pool their investments and participate in an industry previously restricted to the wealthy elite. In the wake of the democratization that followed the passage of the Real Estate Investment Act, REITs--companies dedicated to owning and, in most cases, operating income-producing real estate--began to appear.

REITs focused their investment activities on a variety of property types, including apartments, offices, warehouses, and shopping centers. For its part, UDRT focused primarily on acquiring and managing apartment complexes, although during its first decades in business the company invested in shopping centers, office buildings, and industrial buildings.