Cousins Properties Incorporated 2011 Annual Report 191 Peachtree Street NE, Suite 500 Atlanta, GA 30303-1740 404.407.1000 I cousinsproperties.com Terminus – Atlanta, Georgia SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION Independent Registered Public Form 10-K Available Accounting Firm Copies of the Annual Report on Form 10-K Deloitte & Touche LLP for the year ended December 31, 2011, without exhibits, along with quarterly Counsel reports on Form 10-Q, are available King & Spalding LLP free of charge upon written request to Troutman Sanders LLP the Company at 191 Peachtree Street NE, Suite 500, Atlanta, Georgia 30303. Transfer Agent and Registrar Exhibits are available if requested. These American Stock Transfer & Trust Company items are also posted on the Company’s 6201 15th Avenue website at cousinsproperties.com Brooklyn, NY 11219 or may be obtained from the SEC’s website Telephone Number: 1.800.937.5449 at www.sec.gov. www.amstock.com Investor Relations Contact Cameron Golden Director, Investor Relations Telephone Number: 404.407.1984 Fax Number: 404.407.1985 [email protected] Our three-fold vision for Cousins – simple platform, trophy assets and opportunistic investments – is a strategic combination that streamlines our business model and plays to our strengths. Cousins Properties Incorporated is a leading diversified real estate company with extensive experience in development, acquisition, financing, management and leasing. Based in Atlanta, the Company actively invests in office and retail projects. Since its founding in 1958, Cousins has developed more than 20 million square feet of office space and 20 million square feet of retail space. The Company is a fully integrated equity real estate investment trust (REIT) and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CUZ. For more, please visit cousinsproperties.com. 2 Cousins Properties 2011 Annual Report Our company had a very productive 2011, delivering solid operating results while making major progress toward our vision of a simple platform, trophy assets and opportunistic investments. As a point of reference, in 2009 we were actively Most importantly, our same property annual net involved in five product types: office, retail, operating income has increased by more than condominiums, industrial, and land. The latter 12 percent from 2009. three were losing money. Our office and retail portfolio was 85 percent leased, our industrial Looking at these results – particularly in the portfolio was 51 percent leased, and leverage was context of where we were a few short years ago – over 60 percent on a debt-to-gross book value basis. I have to take a moment to applaud our employees, By year-end 2011, we had exited the condominium who have done an extraordinary job. Their and industrial businesses, the latter made possible dedication to doing things right, often under by bringing the industrial portfolio to 95 percent difficult circumstances, is unwavering, and their leased. Our remaining operating portfolio – now accomplishments have positioned the company for all office and retail – is 90 percent leased on a same an exceptional run of success in the years ahead. property basis, and leverage is down to 37 percent. “Due to the outstanding efforts of our people, Cousins is a far simpler, more efficient company than in recent years past. We are confident that our shareholders will continue to benefit from our sharpened focus on what we do best: operating trophy office and retail assets in markets we know well, and generating additional returns through opportunistic investments.” Larry L. Gellerstedt III President and Chief Executive Officer Our three-fold vision for Cousins – simple the near-term. Together these leases totaled over platform, trophy assets and opportunistic 320,000 square feet. investments – is a strategic combination that streamlines our business model and plays to our The leases in our portfolio now have a weighted strengths. We are focusing the portfolio average term exceeding seven years, and are generally increasingly on Class A office and retail assets, with high-credit tenants. The average lease roll-over well-placed within high-growth Sunbelt markets for the next five years is approximately five percent where we believe our expertise, capital and long- annually – extremely low by historical standards and term relationships are competitive advantages. well below most of our peers. We are also seeking additional returns by Sale of Non-Core Holdings identifying and capitalizing on opportunistic Our leasing success and the resulting improvement investments in these markets. in the core portfolio have enabled us to dispose of non-core assets more vigorously. These dispositions Consistent with this vision were three key areas of serve as an attractive source of capital for future progress in 2011: continued leasing success, sale investment opportunities. They also are a critical of non-core holdings, and what I like to call component for our push to a simple platform. “playing offense.” I will briefly touch on the highlights of each. I mentioned in last year’s letter that we exited the condominium business in 2010. We followed suit Leasing Success with our industrial properties in 2011, selling In a still-challenging economy our team did an all three buildings for combined proceeds of admirable job, both leasing additional space and $79 million. extending leases, leaving the portfolio in solid shape for the coming years. In 2011, we executed Our land and residential lot portfolio is the final over 800,000 square feet of leases in the retail remaining non-core asset on the books. Over the portfolio and over one million square feet in the past few years we have sold $168 million of land office portfolio. Our retail assets were 89 percent and residential assets, but work remains to be done. leased at the end of 2011, up from 86 percent at The economics in favor of owning income- the beginning of the year. Office properties held producing assets versus land and residential lots steady at 90 percent on a same property basis, but with a negative carry cost are quite clear. In fact, this doesn’t capture the full extent of our success. we have calculated that our land would need to We were able to extend, for another 10-plus years, increase in value by 75 percent over the next five our two largest leases that had been set to expire in years to match the return of a core office investment. 4 Cousins Properties 2011 Annual Report After a thorough analysis, in early 2012, we decided office and retail assets, as we did in 2011 with the to further expedite sales of most of our remaining sale of One Georgia Center, a 43 year-old land and residential lot holdings. Facilitating this stabilized building, at a favorable price of $48.6 decision and recognizing continued weakness in million. We will monetize other holdings when the the residential sector, we reduced the holdings’ price is right, and especially when we have the book value by approximately 50 percent and reported opportunity to reinvest the proceeds into the impairment charge in our fourth quarter results. compelling acquisitions and developments. We are already under contract for the sale of $23.5 million in residential land, and plan to sell a large Playing Offense number of the remaining assets over the next 12-24 For over 50 years, Cousins has been known for months. We believe the accelerated monetization creating value by identifying and capitalizing on of these holdings, even at discount to original cost, new growth opportunities. This was certainly the will boost our ability to execute the strategic plan case in 2011 as we announced over $300 million and unlock shareholder value. in gross new investments: Promenade, a “trophy” office asset; and opportunistic investments Unlocking value is the ultimate goal of our sales including Emory Point, Mahan Village, and efforts and is not confined to land. From time-to- University Square. time we harvest the maximum value of mature Promenade 775,000SF Class A Office in Midtown Atlanta Promenade – Atlanta, Georgia 6 Cousins Properties 2011 Annual Report Emor Emory Point $102 Million Multi-phase, mixed-use development in Atlanta Promenade Emory Point In November, we purchased a 775,000-square- Emory Point is a multi-phase, mixed-use foot, Class A office tower, Promenade, in an development adjacent to Emory University and excellent Midtown Atlanta location for $134.7 the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. The million. The anchor tenant’s recent exit had $102 million Phase I, consisting of 443 apartments reduced the landmark building to 58 percent and 82,000 square feet of retail, broke ground leased, presenting a significant value creation mid-year and is scheduled to open in the fall of opportunity. We were able to acquire Promenade 2012. This is an outstanding infill opportunity in well below replacement cost, allowing us to invest a high-demand, supply-constrained submarket significant capital and still have a meaningful price and is facilitated by our longstanding relationship advantage over the competition. Our team wasted with Emory. In fact, Phase I is going so well that no time, executing four leases totaling 32,000 we’ve begun pre-development work for Phase II, square feet within our first 30 days of ownership. which is expected to comprise 240 additional Tenant interest continues, and we are optimistic apartment units and 40,000 square feet of retail about additional progress in 2012. Cousins now space. If plans remain on track, we expect to start owns high-profile office towers in Midtown, construction of the $60 million Phase II in 2013. Buckhead, and Downtown – Atlanta’s three major urban submarkets along the Peachtree corridor. Emory Point – Atlanta, Georgia 8 Cousins Properties 2011 Annual Report Mahan Village Carolina, and Georgia were second, third and In Tallahassee, Florida, we began construction on fourth, respectively, among top states for business Mahan Village - a $25 million, Publix Super in 2011 (CNBC).