Highwoods Sells $28.2 Million of Non-Core Buildings

RALEIGH, NC--(Marketwired - Sep 8, 2014) -  Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE: HIW) has sold 14 non-core buildings encompassing 379,000 square feet in Greensboro for $28.2 million. The buildings, comprising eight industrial/flex properties and six office properties, are predominantly single-story and are, on average, 92.5% leased. They were expected to generate $2.0 million in cash and $2.7 million in GAAP net operating income for full year 2014. The Company will record a gain of $4.7 million in the third quarter in connection with this sale. 

Ed Fritsch, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "While our Greensboro assets are performing very well, as we have in a number of our other markets, we are taking advantage of the strong capital markets environment to prune from the bottom of our portfolio."

With the completion of this sale, Highwoods owns 17 office and 27 industrial properties, encompassing 3.3 million square feet, in Greensboro. The office properties are, on average, 92.0% occupied, 630 basis points higher than the Greensboro market as a whole. The Company's industrial assets are 97.6% occupied, 1160 basis points better than the market as a whole. 

Year-to-date, the Company has now sold $158.8 million of non-core buildings.

About Highwoods Properties
Highwoods Properties, headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, is a publicly traded (NYSE: HIW) real estate investment trust ("REIT") and a member of the S&P MidCap 400 Index. The Company is a fully-integrated office REIT that owns, develops, acquires, leases and manages properties primarily in the best business districts (BBDs) of Atlanta, Kansas City, Memphis, Nashville, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Richmond, Tampa and the Triad. For more information about Highwoods Properties, please visit our website at www.highwoods.com.