Item 1. Business.

Overview

MAA, an S&P 500 company, is a multifamily-focused, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust, or REIT. We own, operate, acquire and selectively develop apartment communities primarily located in the Southeast, Southwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. As of December 31, 2022, we maintained full or partial ownership of apartment communities, including communities currently in development, across 16 states and the District of Columbia, summarized as follows:

Multifamily		Communities (1)				Units
Consolidated			296		(2)		99,407		(3)
Unconsolidated			1				269
Total			297				99,676

(1)

As of December 31, 2022, 34 of the Company’s apartment communities included retail components.

(2)

Number of communities includes six communities under development as of December 31, 2022.

(3)

Number of units excludes development units not yet delivered as of December 31, 2022.

Our business is conducted principally through the Operating Partnership. MAA is the sole general partner of the Operating Partnership, holding 115,480,336 OP Units, comprising a 97.3% partnership interest in the Operating Partnership as of December 31, 2022. MAA and MAALP were formed in Tennessee in 1993.

Business Objectives

Our primary business objectives are to generate a sustainable, stable and increasing cash flow that will fund our dividends and distributions through all parts of the real estate investment cycle. To achieve these objectives, we intend to continue to pursue the following goals and strategies:

create value for our shareholders, residents, associates and the communities in which our properties are located;

effectively operate our existing properties with an intense property and asset management focus;

utilize technology to provide services desired by our residents and create efficiencies and performance advantages in our operations;

take an opportunistic approach to buying, selling, developing and renovating apartment communities;

diversify our portfolio across markets, submarkets and price points in the geographical areas in which we operate to minimize operating performance volatility;

offer attractive work environments, compensation and incentive packages and career development opportunities to attract and retain required talent; and

actively manage our balance sheet and capital structure.

Operations

Our goal is to generate return on investment collectively and in each apartment community by increasing revenues, controlling operating expenses, maintaining high occupancy levels and reinvesting in the income producing capacity of each apartment community as appropriate. The steps taken to meet these objectives include:

providing management information and improved customer services through technology innovations;

implementing programs to control expenses through investment in cost-saving initiatives;

analyzing individual asset productivity performances to identify best practices and improvement areas;

maintaining the physical condition of each property through ongoing capital investments;

improving the “curb appeal,” amenities and common areas of the apartment communities through environmentally-thoughtful landscaping and exterior improvements, and repositioning apartment communities from time to time to enhance or maintain market positions;

effectively utilizing search engine optimization, internet leasing solutions and other internet tools to generate leasing traffic;

managing lease expirations to align with peak leasing traffic patterns and to maximize productivity of property staffing; and

allocating additional capital, including capital for selective interior and exterior improvements.

We believe that leveraging the strength of enterprise solutions in conjunction with our decentralized operating structure capitalizes on specific market knowledge and provides greater accountability than an entirely centralized structure. To support our operational structure, senior management, along with various asset management functions, are proactively involved in supporting and optimizing property operations and reviewing property management performance through extensive reporting processes and on-site visits. To maximize the amount of information shared between senior management and the properties on a real-time basis, we utilize a web-based property management system. The system contains property and accounting modules that allow for operating efficiencies and continued expense control, provide for various expanded revenue management practices and improve the support provided to on-site property operations. We use a “yield management” pricing program that helps our property managers optimize rental revenues, and we also utilize purchase order and accounts payable software to provide improved controls and management information.

Investment in technology continues to drive operating efficiencies in our business and helps us to better meet the changing needs of our residents. Our residents have the ability to conduct business with us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and complete online leasing applications, leases and renewals through our web-based resident portal. Interacting with our residents through such technology has allowed us to improve resident satisfaction ratings and increase the efficiency of our operating teams. We continue to invest in technology to enable potential residents to examine their future homes both online (virtual touring) or by self-guided tour (self-touring) in addition to the more traditional guided tour.

Acquisitions and Development

Our external growth strategy is to acquire existing apartment communities, utilize our internal development team to develop our own apartment communities and partner with local developers to develop apartment communities that we will own completely after stabilization, which we refer to as a pre-purchase transaction. Acquisitions and development, along with dispositions, help us achieve and maintain our desired product mix, geographic diversification and asset allocation. Portfolio growth allows for maximizing the efficiency of the existing management and overhead structure. We have extensive experience in the acquisition and development of apartment communities. We will continue to evaluate opportunities that arise, and we will utilize this strategy to increase our number of apartment communities in strong and growing markets.

We acquired the following properties during the year ended December 31, 2022:

Multifamily Acquisitions		Market		Units		Date Acquired
MAA Hampton Preserve II		Tampa, FL		196		July 2022
MAA LoSo		Charlotte, NC		344		September 2022

Land Acquisitions		Market		Acres		Date Acquired
MAA Florida Street Station		Denver, CO		4		March 2022
MAA Packing District		Orlando, FL		4		May 2022
MAA Panorama		Denver, CO		6		July 2022
MAA Nixie		Raleigh, NC		6		November 2022
Alta 10th (1)		Charlotte, NC		3		December 2022

(1)

Represents a pre-purchase multifamily development. Approximately $10 million has been funded as of December 31, 2022, primarily related to land, with development expected to begin in the second half of 2023. MAA owns 95% of the joint venture that owns this property.

Development activities may be conducted through wholly-owned entities or through joint ventures with our pre-purchase transaction partners. Typically, fixed price construction contracts are signed with unrelated parties to minimize construction risk. We may also engage in limited expansion development opportunities on existing communities in which we typically serve as the developer. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we incurred $172.1 million in development costs and completed three development projects.

The following multifamily projects were under development as of December 31, 2022 (dollars in thousands):

Project		Market		Total Units				Units Completed				Cost to Date				Budgeted Cost				Estimated Cost Per Unit				Expected Completion
Novel West Midtown (1)		Atlanta, GA			340			—				$	72,536			$	89,500			$	263			3rd Quarter 2023
Novel Daybreak (1)		Salt Lake City, UT			400			—					74,195				94,000				235			4th Quarter 2023
Novel Val Vista (1)		Phoenix, AZ			317			—					57,646				77,200				244			1st Quarter 2024
MAA Milepost 35		Denver, CO			352			—					41,324				125,000				355			4th Quarter 2024
MAA Nixie		Raleigh, NC			406			—					13,445				145,500				358			3rd Quarter 2025
MAA Breakwater		Tampa, FL			495			—					32,553				197,500				399			4th Quarter 2025
Total					2,310				—			$	291,699			$	728,700

(1)

This pre-purchase multifamily community development is being developed through a joint venture with a local developer. We own 80% of the joint venture that owns this property.

Dispositions

We sell apartment communities and other assets that no longer meet our long-term strategy or when market conditions are favorable, and we redeploy the proceeds from those sales to acquire, develop and redevelop additional apartment communities and rebalance our portfolio across or within geographic regions. Dispositions also allow us to realize a portion of the value created through our investments and provide additional liquidity. We are then able to redeploy the net proceeds from our dispositions in lieu of raising additional equity or debt capital. In deciding to sell an apartment community, we consider current market conditions and generally solicit competing bids from unrelated parties for these individual properties, considering the sales price and other key terms of each proposal. We also consider portfolio dispositions when such a structure is useful to maximize proceeds and efficiency of execution. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we disposed of four multifamily communities totaling 1,414 units, and two land parcels totaling approximately five acres.

Property Redevelopment and Repositioning Activity

We focus on both interior unit upgrades and property amenity and common area upgrades above and beyond routine capital upkeep on our apartment communities that we believe have the ability to support additional rent growth. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we renovated the kitchen and bathroom of 6,574 apartment units at an average cost of $6,109 per apartment unit, achieving average rental rate increases of 10.0% above the normal market rate for similar but non-renovated apartment units.

We have installed smart home technology (unit entry locks, mobile control of lights and thermostat and leak monitoring) at many of our apartment communities in order to provide additional resident value and increase rent growth. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we installed smart devices in 24,029 apartment units at an average cost of $1,535 per apartment unit and a projected average monthly rent increase of approximately $25 per unit upon lease renewal or unit turnover. As of December 31, 2022, we have completed installation of smart home technology at nearly 75% of our existing properties and are employing smart home technology in all of our new developments.

Separately, we continued our property repositioning program to upgrade and reposition the amenity and common areas at many of our apartment communities. The program includes targeted plans to move all apartment units at such apartment communities to higher rents. For the year ended December 31, 2022, we spent $19.3 million on this program.

Portfolio Strategy

Our goal is to maintain a diversified, balanced portfolio that we believe provides the optimal path to maximizing operating performance over the full economic cycle. Maintaining a diverse portfolio includes:

Operating apartment communities in a variety of markets across the Southeast, Southwest, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S.

Operating apartment communities in a variety of submarkets within our markets (urban, suburban, inner loop, etc.)

Operating apartment communities of different product types such as high-rise, mid-rise and garden style

Offering a variety of different rent price points within a market or submarket

We believe a diverse portfolio performs well during economic up cycles and weathers economic down cycles better than a more homogenous portfolio.

Human Capital

As of December 31, 2022, we employed 2,387 associates. Our associates’ time, energy, creativity and passion are essential to our continued success as a company. With respect to our workforce, we focus on driving diversity and inclusion, providing market-competitive pay and benefits to support our associates’ well-being, encouraging our associates’ growth and development, fostering associate engagement and protecting our associates’ health and safety.

We respect the privilege of providing value to those whose lives we touch. We call this outlook our “Brighter View.” To achieve these objectives, we use our Core Values to guide the way we interact with each other and conduct business by:

appreciating the uniqueness of each individual;

communicating openly and with integrity;

embracing opportunities; and

doing the right thing at the right time for the right reasons.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

We strive to recruit, develop and retain a talented and diverse workforce that mirrors the diversity of our residents and the communities where we do business. We are committed to an inclusive working environment that not only values diversity in ideas and opinions, but also fosters a sense of belonging and connection where associates feel recognized and appreciated regardless of individual differences. Our goal through these efforts is to support and promote inclusive diversity, equal opportunity and fair treatment for all those working at the company and as a result create more value for all the constituents we serve. Our Inclusive Diversity Council is comprised of individuals across all areas of our company whose aim is to cultivate conversations, expand education and examine our practices surrounding diversity and inclusion. This group works collaboratively with our Chief Executive Officer and other members of our executive team to ensure our policies and actions are guided by our culture of inclusivity and are free from discriminatory practices and bias.

We recruit from a diverse range of sources including historically Black colleges and universities as well as technical/trade schools. As of December 31, 2022, ethnic/cultural minorities represented approximately 50% of our workforce, 40% of our collective corporate, regional and property leadership positions and 51% of our associates promoted during the year ended December 31, 2022. Also, as of December 31, 2022, females represented approximately 46% of our workforce, 56% of our collective corporate, regional and property leadership positions and 53% of our associates promoted during the year ended December 31, 2022. We intend to continue using a combination of targeted recruiting, talent development and internal promotion strategies to expand the diversity of our employee base across all roles and functions.

Well-being and Development

We take a comprehensive approach to supporting our associates’ physical and emotional health as well as their financial and professional well-being. Our associates are eligible for medical, dental and vision insurance, life and disability insurance, various wellness programs, an employee assistance program, for which we pay part or all the cost, as well as other benefits. We continue to offer several measures to support our associates’ overall well-being in response to the pandemic, including supplemental leave and sick time policies, additional paid time off and coverage for testing and vaccination under our health plan. We strive to maintain an equitable compensation program for performance, designed to reward competitive levels of compensation based on employee contributions, performance and qualifications. We offer a 401(k) savings plan with an employer match as well as educational support for savings strategies. We also offer discounted rent to associates, parental leave and financial assistance with adoption expenses as well as grant up to three scholarships for associates’ dependents each year. Our training and development programs are designed to provide continuous learning for associates in the flow of their workday. Additionally, we encourage and provide financial assistance to our eligible associates to seek education and certification outside of the company through both apartment associations and accredited educational institutions. We encourage our associates to “embrace opportunities” including developing skills and knowledge needed for increased responsibilities as they promote within the company.

Communication and Engagement

At MAA, we place an emphasis on communication to ensure associates feel informed and connected as an organization. We utilize a variety of communications channels to provide associates with timely information that is relevant to their role in the company, to company-wide initiatives and their professional interests. We also believe the best way to gain in-depth insight into how associates feel about working at MAA is to provide regular, frequent, and trusted opportunities to safely share feedback. From there, we are able to develop and continuously improve our work environment to enhance job satisfaction. We regularly conduct surveys with all associates to measure associate engagement and capture topical feedback to guide current programs, projects and progress. We are also driven to prove that we are listening, and that real action and improvements are executed as a result. Lastly, we conduct an annual review process to provide an opportunity for each associate to build mutual understanding with leadership, gain self-discovery and learn about possible avenues for growth. We encourage a work environment where ideas, problems and solutions can be discussed with immediate managers and other management personnel.

Capital Structure

We use a combination of debt and equity sources to fund our business objectives. We focus on maintaining access, flexibility and low costs, which we believe allows us to proactively support normal business operations and source potential investment opportunities in the marketplace. We structure our debt maturities to avoid disproportionate exposure in any given year. Our primary debt financing strategy is to access the unsecured debt markets to provide our debt capital needs, but we also maintain a limited amount of secured debt and maintain our access to both the secured and unsecured debt markets for maximum flexibility. We also believe that we have significant access to the equity capital markets.

As of December 31, 2022, 19.2% of our total market capitalization consisted of debt borrowings, including 17.6% under unsecured borrowings and 1.5% under secured borrowings. We currently intend to target our total debt, net of cash held, to a range of approximately 30% to 36% of our adjusted total assets (as defined in the covenants for the bonds issued by MAALP). Our charter and bylaws do not limit our debt levels and our Board of Directors can modify this policy at any time. We may issue new equity to maintain our debt within the target range. Covenants for our unsecured senior notes limit our total debt to 60% or less of our adjusted total assets. As of December 31, 2022, our total debt was approximately 28.4% of our adjusted total assets. We continuously review opportunities for lowering our cost of capital. We plan to continue using unsecured debt to take advantage of the lower cost of capital and flexibility provided by these markets. We will evaluate opportunities to repurchase shares when we believe that our share price is significantly below our net present value. We also look for opportunities where we can acquire or develop apartment communities, selectively funded or partially funded by sales of equity securities, when appropriate opportunities arise. We focus on improving the net present value of our investments by generating cash flow from our portfolio of assets above the estimated total cost of debt and equity capital. We routinely make new investments when we believe it will be accretive to shareholder value over the life of the investments.

Competition and Market Demand

Our apartment communities are located in areas that include other apartment communities. Occupancy and rental rates are affected by the number of competitive apartment communities in a particular area. The owners of competing apartment communities may have greater resources than us, and the managers of these apartment communities may have more experience than our management. Moreover, single-family rental housing, manufactured housing, condominiums and the new and existing home markets provide housing alternatives to potential residents of apartment communities. Competition for new residents is generally intense across all of our markets. Some competing apartment communities offer features that our apartment communities do not have or may be deemed to be in a more desirable location within the market. Competing apartment communities can use concessions or lower rents to obtain temporary competitive advantages. Also, some competing apartment communities are newer than our apartment communities, may have different amenities or otherwise be more attractive to a prospective resident. The competitive position of each apartment community is different depending upon many factors including submarket supply and demand. In addition, other real estate investors compete with us to acquire existing properties and to develop new properties. These competitors include insurance companies, pension and investment funds, public and private real estate companies, investment companies and other public and private apartment REITs, some of which may have greater resources, greater ability to utilize leverage or lower capital costs than we do.

We believe, however, that we are generally well-positioned to compete effectively for residents and acquisition and development opportunities. We believe our competitive advantages include:

a fully integrated organization with property management, development, redevelopment, acquisition, marketing, sales and financing expertise;

scalable operating and support systems, which include automated systems to meet the changing technological needs of our residents and associates;

access to a wide variety of debt and equity capital sources;

geographic diversification with a presence in 39 defined markets across the Southeast, Southwest and Mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S.; and

significant presence in many of our major markets that allows us to be a local operating expert and offer varying location options within a market to meet a variety of prospective resident preferences.

Moving forward, we plan to continue our focus on optimizing lease expiration management, current and prospective resident engagement, expense control and resident retention efforts and also to align employee incentive plans with our performance. We also plan to continue to make capital improvements to both our apartment communities and individual units on a regular basis to maintain a competitive position. We believe this plan of operation, coupled with the portfolio’s strengths in targeting residents across a geographically diverse platform, should position us for continued operational growth.

For information regarding trends in market demand, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Trends” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Environmental Matters

As a part of our standard apartment community acquisition and development processes, we generally obtain environmental studies of the sites from outside environmental engineering firms. The purpose of these studies is to identify potential sources of contamination at the site and to assess the status of environmental regulatory compliance. These studies generally include historical reviews of the site, reviews of certain public records, preliminary investigations of the site and surrounding properties, inspection for the presence of asbestos, poly-chlorinated biphenyls and underground storage tanks and the preparation and issuance of written reports. Depending on the results of these studies, more invasive procedures, such as soil sampling or ground water analysis, may be performed to investigate potential sources of contamination. These studies must be satisfactorily completed before we take ownership of an acquisition or development property; however, no assurance can be given that the studies or additional documents reviewed identify all significant environmental risks. See “Risk Factors – Environmental problems are possible and can be costly” and “Risk Factors – Compliance or failure to comply with laws and regulations could have an adverse effect on our operations and the values of our properties” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

The environmental studies we received on properties that we have acquired have not revealed any material environmental liabilities. Should any potential environmental risks or conditions be discovered during our due diligence process, the potential costs of remediation will be assessed carefully and factored into the cost of acquisition, assuming the identified risks and factors are deemed to be manageable and within reason. We are not aware of any existing conditions that we believe would be considered a material environmental liability. Nevertheless, it is possible that the studies do not reveal all environmental risks or that there are material environmental liabilities of which we are not aware. Moreover, no assurance can be given concerning future laws, ordinances or regulations, or the potential introduction of hazardous or toxic substances by neighboring properties or residents.

Government Regulations

We must own, operate, manage, acquire, develop and redevelop our properties in compliance with the laws and regulations of the United States, as well as state and local laws and regulations in the markets where our properties are located, which may differ among jurisdictions. For example, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Fair Housing Act of 1988 and other federal, state and local laws generally require that public accommodations be made accessible to disabled persons. Noncompliance could result in the imposition of fines by the government or the award of damages to private litigants. These laws may require us to modify our existing apartment communities. These laws may also restrict renovations by requiring improved access to such buildings by disabled persons or may require us to add other structural features that increase our construction costs. Compliance with the various laws and regulations we are subject to did not have a material effect on our capital expenditures, results of operations and competitive position for the year ended December 31, 2022 as compared to prior periods.

For additional information, see “Risk Factors – Environmental problems are possible and can be costly” and “Risk Factors – Compliance or failure to comply with laws and regulations could have an adverse effect on our operations and the values of our properties” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Qualification as a Real Estate Investment Trust

MAA has elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code. To continue to qualify as a REIT, MAA must continue to meet certain tests which, among other things, generally require that our assets consist primarily of real estate assets, our income be derived primarily from real estate assets and that we distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (other than our net capital gains) to our shareholders annually. If MAA maintains its qualification as a REIT, MAA generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income taxes at the corporate level on its net income to the extent it distributes such net income to its shareholders annually. Even if MAA continues to qualify as a REIT, it will continue to be subject to certain federal, state and local taxes on its income and its property. For the year ended December 31, 2022, MAA paid total distributions of $4.675 per share of common stock to its shareholders, which was above the 90% REIT distribution requirement and was in excess of REIT taxable income.

Website Access to Our Reports

MAA and the Operating Partnership file combined periodic reports with the SEC. Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, along with our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to those reports, are available on our website at https://www.maac.com as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. Reference to our website does not constitute incorporation by reference of the information contained on the site and should not be considered part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. All of the aforementioned materials may also be obtained free of charge by contacting our Investor Relations Department, 6815 Poplar Avenue, Suite 500, Germantown, Tennessee 38138.