Irvine Apartment Issues Stock

Irvine Apartment Communities Inc. said Monday that it sold newly issued stock and partnership units for a total of $60 million, and plans to use the proceeds to pay off existing loans and fund ongoing construction projects.

The real estate investment trust sold nearly 1.5 million shares to a group of investor accounts managed by Cohen & Steers in New York for $20.125 a share. It sold a like number of partnership units to the Irvine Co. at the same price. Irvine Apartment Communities is the publicly traded arm of the Irvine Co.

To raise money for its projects, it obtains loans and sells stock from a $250-million shelf registration filed last year. A shelf registration allows securities to be sold from time to time over a two-year period.

The investment trust, the exclusive developer of the 90-square-mile Irvine Ranch, owns 50 apartment communities with 13,184 completed rental units and 884 units under construction.