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Cousins Announces Four New Restaurants at Terminus
ATLANTA – April 25, 2006 – Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE: CUZ) today announced that four first-class dining destinations are headed to Terminus, the new mixed-use community rising at the corner of Peachtree and Piedmont Roads in Atlanta. These four unique restaurants – AquaKnox, Bricktops, Lola and MF – will bring renowned chefs from across the country to Atlanta’s burgeoning dining scene.
“We are delighted that these four innovative and contemporary restaurants have chosen Terminus as their launching pad into the Atlanta market,” said Larry Gellerstedt, president for Cousins office and multifamily division. “These establishments are indicative of the community we are creating at Terminus.”
Representing four new concepts from both well-known Atlanta restaurateurs as well as newcomers to the local dining scene, these new establishments will be housed either in a unique two-story, elliptical restaurant building facing Peachtree Road, or along Terminus’ vibrant Café Street. AquaKnox, owned and operated by E-Brands Restaurants boasts the California inspired seafood cuisine of celebrated chef Tom Moloney. Atlanta locals will dine on fresh seafood flown in daily from around the world. Critics confirm that AquaKnox is setting new standards of culinary excellence. Classical seafood & steak dishes are presented with innovative twists and include stone crab claws from the Florida Keys, New Zealand king salmon and jumbo Louisiana prawns. AquaKnox’s fresh colors reflect the vibrancy of the cool ocean waters. Guests experience an environment designed to entertain your every sense, highlighted by a water-encased walk-in tower and a state-of-the-art kitchen.
“In looking to expand the AquaKnox experience beyond our current site at The Venetian in Las Vegas, we searched for a city with a passion for food and a location with unmatched energy,” said Rashid Choufani, CEO & owner of E-Brands Restaurants. “Terminus is the perfect fit due to the style and sophistication of the community and its prime location on Peachtree in the heart of Buckhead.”
While AquaKnox will occupy the entire second-floor of Terminus’ elliptical restaurant building, BrickTop’s, a casual American eatery, will sit on the street level with easy pedestrian access from Peachtree Road. BrickTop’s will provide its visitors with a casual and upscale dining experience, including hamburgers, steaks, sandwiches, salads and wood-fried rotisserie chicken, all in a contemporary atmosphere. Along with this Atlanta location, Joe Ledbetter, co-founder of Houston’s Restaurants, is opening other BrickTop’s restaurants in Naples, FL and Nashville, TN.
Certified master chef and Atlanta institution Tom Catherall of the Here to Serve Restaurant group, famous for top-rated Prime, hip concepts Twist and Shout, and the new Strip at Atlantic Station, will debut Lola, a "California Italian" creation that will occupy the featured corner where Café Street meets Piedmont Road. Catherall, fast becoming a legend in Atlanta's dining scene, will infuse his trademark style and culinary sophistication into Terminus.
“As someone being considered a pace-setter in Atlanta’s restaurant rebirth, I pride myself for being on the leading edge – not only for innovative concepts, but also new and exciting restaurant locations,” said Catherall. “Now, with Terminus rising at the center of Buckhead’s latest development wave, it was a no-brainer – I had to put a new concept there!”
Finally, the duo that gave Atlanta NAM and MF Sushibar – Alex and Chris Kinjo – will add a new MF concept to their impressive roster of Asian dining experiences. MF, named after master chef Chris “Magic Fingers” Kinjo, will continue the tradition of its predecessors by offering dishes that reflect the contrasting flavors, varied textures and exotic ingredients characteristic of the Kinjo brothers’ contemporary take on the traditional cuisine. More importantly, Atlanta will experience for the first time the centuries-old country style of cooking – the Robata grill.
As a whole, Terminus is a 10-acre office, residential, retail, and hotel community that will alter the landscape of Atlanta and redefine the center of the Buckhead business district. The first phase of the project will be completed in the spring of 2007 and will contain approximately 582,000 square feet of office space and more than 68,000 square feet of restaurant and street-level retail space., The master plan for the project includes an additional 500,000-square-foot office building, 20,000-square-foot of street-level retail space and up to 850 residential units.
About Cousins Properties
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, multi-family, retail, industrial and land development projects. The Company's portfolio consists of interests in 7.4 million square feet of office space, 3.8 million square feet of retail space, 0.8 million square feet of industrial space, two multi-family residential projects, over 9,600 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 11.4 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 Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005. 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.
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