Cousins Properties Declares $7.15 Per Share Special Dividend; $356 Million Distribution to Shareholders the Result of More Than $1.2 Billion in Property Sales During 2004.

ATLANTA -- Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE: CUZ) announced today its Board of Directors has declared a special cash dividend of $356 million, or $7.15 per share. The dividend is payable November 18, 2004, to common shareholders of record on November 8, 2004. The special dividend is the result of taxable gains from sales of wholly owned and joint venture assets, including:

--Two office buildings and eight ground leases, all at Wildwood Office Park in Atlanta, sold to a fund managed by UBS Realty Investors LLC for $247.5 million in October 2004

--John Marshall II, a 224,000-square-foot office building in Tysons Corner, Va., sold to an affiliate of ING Realty Partners for $59.3 million in October 2004

--101 Second Street and 55 Second Street, both in San Francisco, sold to an affiliate of Hines for $287 million in September 2004

--Four Wildwood Office Park office buildings sold to Wells REIT for $172.5 million in September 2004

--Buildings III and IV at Austin Research Park in Austin, Texas, sold to a private equity fund for $78.7 million in September 2004

--The Pinnacle and Two Live Oak, both in Atlanta, sold to TIAA-CREF for $200 million in August 2004

--101 Independence Center, a 526,000-square-foot office building in Charlotte, N.C., sold to American Financial Realty Trust for $100 million in July 2004

--333 John Carlyle and 1900 Duke Street, both in Alexandria, Va., sold to Grosvenor USA Limited for $80 million in May 2004.

"Hopefully, our message to investors is simple and consistent. Our mission is to maximize the value we create for our shareholders. These sales serve as another example of how we create value through development, grow value through leasing and management, and actively manage our investment portfolios, harvesting that value at opportune times," said Tom Bell, president and CEO of Cousins. "Our strategy this year was to take advantage of the substantial investor appetite for high-quality office assets. In the process, we were able to shrink our asset base to a level that should provide better overall returns to our shareholders over time, as we continue to develop new assets. This strategy has served Cousins well for many years and we are proud to provide this large special dividend to our deserving shareholders.

"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 strong financial position, an all-cash distribution was in order," Bell said. "I would note that, based on current estimates of 2004 taxable income and gains, approximately 77 percent of the distribution should be taxed at the 15 percent federal capital gain rate, with approximately 23 percent being taxed at the 25 percent federal recapture rate. Of course, these estimates may change."

A New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") policy regarding the deferral of ex-dividend dates for large special dividends applies to the Company's special cash dividend. Specifically, the NYSE has set November 19, 2004, as the ex-dividend date for the special dividend. As a result, a shareholder of record as of the November 8, 2004, record date who sells the Company's stock after that record date but on or before the November 18, 2004, payment date, will not be entitled to receive the dividend payment as the value of the dividend remains reflected in the market price of the stock until November 19, 2004. Investors are encouraged to consult with their financial advisors regarding the specific implications of the deferral of the ex-dividend date.

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 9.1 million square feet of office and medical office space, 3.1 million square feet of retail space, over 2,000 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 10.4 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 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.