CBL & Associates Properties Completes $247.4 Million Acquisition in Nashville, Tennessee.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 1, 1998--CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. (NYSE:CBL) today announced the closing of the previously announced acquisition of two regional malls, two associated centers and one community shopping center in the Nashville, Tennessee metropolitan area for a total purchase price of $247.4 million.

CBL funded the acquisitions through $182.7 million of new 10-year, fixed -rate financing at 6.77% secured by four of the properties and provided by Merrill Lynch Mortgage Capital Inc. and CIGNA Investments Inc., borrowings under the Company's credit facilities and the issuance of operating partnership units convertible into 631,016 shares of common stock. The five properties are expected to generate an initial yield on investment, including provisions for deferred maintenance, of approximately 8.4%. After eliminating property management fees and structural reserves, the initial yield is approximately 8.7%.

The two regional malls are the 1,073,970-square-foot Rivergate Mall located in Goodlettsville, 12 miles north of downtown Nashville, and the 1,095,946-square-foot Hickory Hollow Mall located 10 miles southeast of downtown Nashville. Rivergate Mall is 85% occupied and achieved sales of $271 per square foot in 1997. Hickory Hollow Mall is 83% occupied and posted average sales of $278 per square foot in 1997.

The two associated centers are The Village at Rivergate, a 166,366-square foot shopping center that is 91% occupied and located adjacent to Rivergate Mall and The Courtyard at Hickory Hollow, a 76,640-square-foot shopping center that is 100% occupied and located adjacent to Hickory Hollow Mall. Lions Head Village is a 93,290-square-foot community center that is 82% occupied and located on White Bridge Road in the Belle Meade area of Nashville.

CBL & Associates Properties owns two other shopping centers in the Nashville area, CoolSprings Galleria, a 1,130,597-square-foot regional mall that is 93.3% occupied with average sales of $302 per square foot in 1997, and CoolSprings Crossing, a 340,596-square-foot associated center that is 100% occupied and located adjacent to CoolSprings Galleria. These two properties are located in Franklin, 15 miles south of downtown Nashville. With these acquisitions, CBL now controls in excess of 50% of the conventional regional mall market in metropolitan Nashville with approximately 3.3 million square feet of gross leasable area in the three malls.

Commenting on the announcement, Charles B. Lebovitz, CBL's chairman, president and chief executive officer, stated, "We are very pleased with our acquisition activity during the first half of this year, having acquired over 4.8 million square feet for a total investment of over $430 million. With the addition of these five shopping centers, we are now able to control a dominant share of the Nashville trade area, one of the fastest growing markets in the country. With our ability to create value through leasing, redevelopment, expansion or renovation, as well as the numerous synergies and efficiencies from such a significant local presence, we expect to improve the returns on these acquisitions."

CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. is a real estate investment trust which owns regional malls and community shopping centers, primarily in the Southeast and select markets in the Northeast and Midwest. The Company has a portfolio of 129 properties in 25 states totaling 29.7 million square feet, manages an additional 2.6 million square feet of non-owned shopping centers, and presently has under construction six new projects totaling approximately 2.2 million square feet, including one mall, one associated center, three community centers and one expansion. In 1997, the Company opened 10 new shopping centers, expanded four existing shopping centers and acquired three shopping centers, adding 4.6 million square feet to its portfolio. CBL has, in the first half of 1998, acquired five regional malls totaling 4.5 million square feet--Asheville Mall in Asheville, North Carolina, Burnsville Center in Burnsville (Minneapolis), Minnesota, Stroud Mall in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and Rivergate Mall and Hickory Hollow Mall in Nashville, Tennessee.

Information included herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Such statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which cannot be predicted with accuracy and some of which might not even be anticipated. Future events and actual events, financial and otherwise, may differ materially from the events and results discussed in the forward-looking statements. The reader is directed to the Company's various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including without limitation the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and the "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" incorporated by reference therein, for a discussion of such risks and uncertainties.

    CONTACT:  CBL & Associates Properties, Chattanooga
               John N. Foy, 423/855-0001