(Read more on the multifamily market.)

DENVER-Archstone-Smith Trust shareholders will vote next month on the $22-billion-plus merger agreement the company signed in May. If approved, the company will be taken private later this year by affiliates of Tishman Speyer Real Estate Venture VII LP and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

The agreement calls for the buyers to pay $60.75 for each outstanding common share, which totals just under 223 million, assume approximately $6.3 billion in existing debt, and pay off Series I preferred shareholders and unitholders of the operating partnership. Archstone-Smith said Tuesday morning that the shareholder vote on the merger will take place at noon on Tuesday, Aug. 21, at the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center. Only shareholders of record as of July 12, 2007 will be eligible to vote.

When the deal was announced in May, the offer represented a 22.7% premium over Archstone-Smith's share price. At noontime Tuesday, shares of the company were trading at $59.63, about 1.9% below the merger price.