Foot Office Building Repurchases $22.3 Million of 8.625% Series A Preferred Stock Business Editors RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 13, 2007--Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE: HIW), the largest owner and operator of suburban office properties in the Southeast, today announced that it will begin development of Cool Springs IV, a $27.6 million, 153,000 square foot multi-tenant Class "A" office building with structured parking in Nashville. The Company currently owns 771,000 square feet in four buildings it has developed at Cool Springs - Cool Springs I, II and III, and the $58.3 million build-to-suit it is developing for Healthways. On average, these properties are 94% leased. The Cool Springs submarket's occupancy was 95% at June 30, 2007. Construction of Cool Springs IV will commence in the third quarter and is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2008.
Ed Fritsch, president and chief executive officer of Highwoods, stated "Cool Springs continues to be one of the strongest submarkets in Nashville and the largest block of space available in our portfolio is 7,400 square feet. As we had forecasted when the decision was made to build Cool Springs III, demand for this property has been strong. The property is 91% pre-leased, slightly ahead of our initial projections when stabilization was scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2007.
"As outlined in our Strategic Plan, our Cool Springs developments fit well with our stated development strategy of building a portfolio of high quality, differentiated assets in high demand locations where occupancy traditionally outpaces that of the market as a whole.
With the addition of this development project, the Company's development pipeline grows to 2.9 million square feet, representing an investment of $492 million that is 63% pre-leased.
Acquires Four Acre Site in Westshore Submarket of Tampa
The Company has acquired four acres of land for $5.1 million in Tampa's highly desirable Westshore submarket where occupancy was 94% at June 30, 2007. The tract can support up to 300,000 square feet of office space with structured parking and is part of a larger, mixed-use site called Avion Park that is master planned to include three hotels and four restaurants. Highwoods currently owns 1.4 million square feet of in-service property in Westshore that are, on average, 96% occupied. The Company also recently completed a $42 million, 208,000 square foot Class A office building that is currently 57% pre-leased, has excellent prospects for the remaining space and is projected to stabilize in the fourth quarter of 2008.
"We were thrilled to acquire this strategically located, highly visible infill tract in the best submarket in Tampa. Available, entitled land in this submarket is very limited," stated Mr. Fritsch.
Repurchases 8.625% Series A Preferred Stock
The Company also announced that in a privately negotiated transaction, it has repurchased and retired 22,008 of its outstanding 8.625% Series A Preferred Shares for an aggregate purchase price of $22.3 million. This equates to a price of approximately 101% of par value. The repurchase was funded through the Company's credit facility. The Series A Preferred Shares are not redeemable by the Company until 2027.
Certain matters discussed in this press release, such as the impact and timing of future development activity, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are distinguished by use of the words "will", "expect", "intends" and words of similar meaning. Although Highwoods believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Highwoods' current expectations include, among others, the following: the financial condition of our customers could deteriorate; unwaived defaults, if any, under our debt instruments could result in an acceleration of some of our outstanding debt; speculative development by others could result in excessive supply of office properties relative to customer demand; we may not be able to lease or re-lease space quickly or on as favorable terms as old leases; unexpected difficulties in obtaining additional capital to satisfy our future cash needs or unexpected increases in interest rates would increase our debt service costs; and others detailed in the Company's 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent SEC reports.
About the Company
Highwoods Properties, Inc., a member of the S&P MidCap 400 Index, is a fully integrated, self-administered real estate investment trust ("REIT") that provides leasing, management, development, construction and other customer-related services for its properties and for third parties. At June 30, 2007, the Company owned or had an interest in 386 in-service office, industrial and retail properties encompassing approximately 34.1 million square feet. Highwoods also owned 693 acres of development land. Highwoods is based in Raleigh, North Carolina, and its properties and development land are located in Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. For more information about Highwoods Properties, please visit our Web site at www.highwoods.com.
CONTACT: Highwoods Properties, Inc. Tabitha Zane, 919-431-1529 Vice President, Investor Relations
KEYWORD: KANSAS IOWA GEORGIA FLORIDA VIRGINIA TENNESSEE SOUTH CAROLINA NORTH CAROLINA MISSOURIINDUSTRY KEYWORD: REAL ESTATE BUILDING/CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTSOURCE: Highwoods Properties, Inc.
