Highwoods Properties Acquires 220,000 Square Foot Office Building in Tampa

RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE: HIW), the largest owner and operator of suburban office properties in the Southeast and NAIOP’s 2009 Developer of the Year, today announced that it has acquired a 220,000, 10-story Class “A” office building located at 4200 West Cypress Street in Tampa. Including planned improvement costs, Highwoods expects the total investment to be $24.7 million. This property is 93% occupied and currently generates annualized net operating income of approximately $3.1 million.

“This acquisition is accretive to FFO and further solidifies our position in the highly desirable Westshore submarket where the majority of our Tampa assets are concentrated. It meets our criteria of fortifying our position in key infill locations.”

Ed Fritsch, President and CEO, stated, “This acquisition is accretive to FFO and further solidifies our position in the highly desirable Westshore submarket where the majority of our Tampa assets are concentrated. It meets our criteria of fortifying our position in key infill locations.”

Including this acquisition, the Company now owns or has interest in 14 office buildings in the Westshore submarket encompassing 2.1 million square feet that are, on average, 90.5% occupied.

Winston-Salem Asset Sale

The Company also announced the sale of 39,700 square feet of retail space in Winston-Salem and 1.9 acres of land for proceeds of $9 million. The properties, which are 100% occupied, include the 30,000 square foot hhgregg build-to-suit development project delivered in 2008 and a neighboring 9,700 square foot strip of retail shops. The land sold adjoined the retail shops and is ground leased to CVS/pharmacy. For 2009, the Company has sold $78 million of non-core assets at an 8.3% average cap rate.

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 September 30, 2009, the Company owned or had an interest in 380 in-service office, industrial and retail properties encompassing approximately 35.4 million square feet. Highwoods also owned 580 acres of development land. Highwoods is based in Raleigh, North Carolina, and its properties and development land are located in Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. For more information about Highwoods Properties, please visit our Web site at www.highwoods.com.

Certain matters discussed in this press release, such as the impact of investment activity, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are distinguished by use of the words "will", "expect", "intend" 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; speculative development by others could result in excessive supply of properties relative to customer demand; development, acquisition, reinvestment, disposition or joint venture projects may not be completed as quickly or on as favorable terms as anticipated; we may not be able to lease or re-lease space as quickly as anticipated or on as favorable terms as old leases; difficulties in obtaining additional capital to satisfy our future cash needs or increases in interest rates could adversely impact our ability to fund important business initiatives and increase our debt service costs; our Southeastern and Midwestern markets may suffer declines in economic growth; our banking and joint venture partners may suffer financial difficulties that adversely impact their ability to satisfy their contractual obligations to us; and others detailed in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended September 30, 2009 and subsequent SEC reports.