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Cousins Purchases Land Sets Groundbreaking Date for Landmark Atlanta Project

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 7, 2005--Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE: CUZ) announced today it has purchased 9.9 acres in the Buckhead district of Atlanta, where it plans to develop a 31-story office building containing approximately 550,000 square feet of office space and approximately 60,000 square feet of restaurant and street-level retail space, for a total of approximately 610,000 square feet in the first phase of development. The purchase price for the land was undisclosed. The first phase is part of a larger master plan for the land (located at the intersection of Peachtree and Piedmont roads) that includes an additional 500,000-square-foot office building, additional street-level retail space and up to 800 residential units. Current plans call for a May 9 groundbreaking ceremony with foundation construction on the office tower set to begin in June and completion expected in April 2007.

"It should now be clear to the market, to our customers and to those considering new office space in Buckhead: This project is going to happen," said Tom Bell, president and CEO of Cousins Properties. "With our unbeatable location, outstanding design and increasingly impressive list of commitments, we expect this building to be a success worthy of Buckhead and consistent with Cousins' track record of adding cutting edge office buildings to the Atlanta skyline. The project's new and exciting restaurants and street level retail will reinforce and enhance Buckhead's reputation for high quality development."

"We expect to make announcements about the project's name, our signature restaurants and some early office and retailer commitments soon," Bell added.

Durham, N.C.-based Duda Paine Architects is the design architect for the project. Duda Paine's previous work with Cousins includes Charlotte's Gateway Village and Frost Bank Tower in Austin, Texas.

Cousins Properties Incorporated, headquartered in Atlanta, has extensive experience in the real estate industry including the development, acquisition, financing, management and leasing of properties. The property types that Cousins actively invests in include office, retail, medical office, industrial and land development projects. The Company's portfolio consists of interests in 7.2 million square feet of office and medical office space, 3.1 million square feet of retail space, over 3,000 acres of strategically located land tracts for sale or future development, and significant land holdings for development of single family residential communities. Cousins also provides leasing and management services to third-party investors; its client-services portfolio comprises 10.6 million square feet of office space. Cousins is a fully integrated equity real estate investment trust (REIT) that has been public since 1962 and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CUZ." For more information on the Company, please visit Cousins' Web site at www.cousinsproperties.com.

Certain matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws and are subject to uncertainties and risks, including, but not limited to, general and local economic conditions, local real estate conditions, the activity of others developing competitive projects, the cyclical nature of the real estate industry, the financial condition of existing tenants, interest rates, the Company's ability to obtain favorable financing or zoning, environmental matters, the effects of terrorism, the failure of assets under contract for sale to ultimately close and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 10, 2003. The words "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "estimates" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that its plans, intentions and expectations reflected in any forward-looking statement are reasonable, the Company can give no assurance that these plans, intentions or expectations will be achieved. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and speak as of the date of such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of future events, new information or otherwise.