Aviv REIT's stock rose more than 14 percent in its first day as a publicly traded company.

The real estate investment trust's stock climbed $2.95, or 14.7 percent, to $22.95 in late morning trading. They have traded between $22.10 to $22.98.

Aviv REIT Inc. priced its initial public offering of 13.2 million shares at $20 per share. This was at the high end of its expected price range of $18 to $20 per share.

The Chicago company said Thursday that it plans to use the offering's net proceeds to pay back some debt and will use the rest of the net proceeds for general corporate purposes such as potential acquisitions.

Aviv REIT is giving the underwriters an option to buy up to an additional 2 million shares to cover any excess demand.

The offering is expected to close on Tuesday.

For the year ended Dec. 31, Aviv REIT reported net income available to shareholders of $5.1 million on revenue of $123.2 million, according to a recent regulatory filing. In 2011 its net income available to shareholders was $6.2 million on revenue of $97 million.

Aviv REIT is trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the "AVIV" ticker symbol.