Hildebrand, formerly executive vice president of development and a 21-year veteran with the company, tells GlobeSt.com that Casden Properties expects to build 2,000 to 3,000 new units per year in Southern California, focusing on the luxury market. "We're negotiating right now to buy properties for several thousand units," Hildebrand says. The company will begin construction of its first project as soon as it has the land and entitlements, he says.

Casden will look mainly at the Southern California market, but it will consider other markets as well if the opportunity is right, he says.

Alan Casden, chairman and CEO of Casden Properties, comments that he and Hildebrand "built one of the largest portfolios of multifamily projects in the country, and now we are going to do it all over again."Casden's 90,000-unit portfolio was merged into the AIMCO real estate investment trust last year in a deal valued at $1.95 billion. Casden Properties LLC is a partnership of Casden, AIMCO and New York-based Blackacre.