Cousins Properties Declares $100 Million Special Dividend; Distribution to shareholders the result of $258 million in property sales during the second and third quarter.

Business Editors

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 4, 2003

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) announced today its Board of Directors has declared a special cash dividend of $100.3 million, or $2.07 per share. The dividend is payable Sept. 22, 2003 to common shareholders of record on Sept. 15, 2003. The special dividend is the result of taxable gains from the sale of four projects:

-- Mira Mesa MarketCenter, a 464,000-square-foot power center

near San Diego, Calif. that sold for $87 million to

California-based DSB Properties in late May;

-- Cerritos Corporate Center, a two-building, 327,000-square-foot

office project in Cerritos, Calif. that sold for $79.2 million

to Los-Angeles-based Maguire Partners in late June;

-- Presidential MarketCenter, a 374,000-square-foot power center

in suburban Atlanta that sold for $47.2 million to

Florida-based Equity One Inc. in mid-August and;

-- Perimeter Expo, a 176,000-square-foot power center in suburban

Atlanta that sold for $45 million to a fund managed by J.P.

Morgan Chase & Co. on Sept. 3.

"At Cousins, our primary goal is to create value for our shareholders through the development of real estate," said Tom Bell, president and CEO of Cousins. "In selling these four properties, we were able to obtain excellent pricing from the current property markets and fully capture the value we created."

"Under the REIT provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, substantial gains must be distributed in order for the company not to incur corporate level taxes. The Board and management determined that, due to our extremely strong financial position, an all cash distribution was in order," Bell said. "I would note that, based on current estimates of 2003 taxable income and gains, almost all of the distribution should be taxed at the 15 percent federal capital gains rate, with something less than $15 million being taxed at the 25 percent federal recapture rate."

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 and land development projects. The Company's portfolio consists of interests in 13.9 million square feet of office and medical office space, 2.1 million square feet of retail space and more than 300 acres of strategically located land for future commercial development. Cousins also provides leasing and management services to third-party investors; its client-services portfolio comprises 6.3 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 please visit 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 economic conditions, local real estate conditions, interest rates, the Company's ability to obtain favorable financing, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Form 8-K filed on March 9, 2001. The words "believes," "expects," "estimates" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. 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.