Cousins Properties Opens the Avenue Viera; Cousins' First Avenue in Florida, and Fifth Overall, Opens at 78 Percent Leased.

ATLANTA -- Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE: CUZ) announced today the opening of the 371,000-square-foot Phase I of The Avenue(R) Viera, an upscale specialty retail center in Brevard County, Florida. Adjacent to Interstate 95 in the master-planned community of Viera, north of Melbourne on Florida's east coast, Phase I of The Avenue Viera is 78 percent leased and 82 percent committed to more than 40 retailers and restaurants. The project, which started construction in fall 2003, will ultimately house approximately 66 retailers and restaurants and includes a one-acre, heavily landscaped urban park as its centerpiece.

"Difficult projects are often the most rewarding, and weathering three hurricanes in six weeks certainly qualifies as difficult. We could not be more proud of our development and construction team and the hard work it took to get us here. The leasing effort at The Avenue Viera was also outstanding, reaching agreements with retailers even as our opening date was repeatedly threatened by the storms," said Joel Murphy, president of Cousins' Retail Division. "Now we can continue toward our goal of becoming an integral part of the Brevard County community, giving friends a place to shop all afternoon and stay for dinner, giving families a place to spend the day shopping and strolling, and giving the community a place to gather."

Noted for its pedestrian-friendly nature, extensive landscaping and distinctive architecture, The Avenue places traditional mall merchants in upscale, open-air centers alongside select local merchants and specialty restaurants. The Avenue Viera is Cousins' fifth Avenue project, joining three suburban Atlanta Avenues - The Avenue East Cobb, The Avenue Peachtree City and The Avenue West Cobb - and The Avenue of the Peninsula in Rolling Hills Estates (LA County), California. Cousins' sixth Avenue project, The Avenue Carriage Crossing, is under construction in suburban Memphis and is scheduled to open in October 2005.

To date, retailers and restaurants with signed leases at The Avenue Viera include Abercrombie & Fitch, Aerosoles, Ann Taylor Loft, Barnie's Coffee & Tea, Bed Bath & Beyond, Belk Department Store, Bombay, Books A Million, Carlton Jewelers, Chico's, Chili's, Cingular Wireless, Claires, Coldstone Creamery, Coldwater Creek, Ecco Shoes, Famous Footwear, Finish Line, Glad Rags, Jos. A. Bank, Kay Jewelers, Kirkland's, Lane Bryant, Liz Claiborne Shoes, Longhorn Steaks, The Melting Pot, Motherhood Maternity, Old Navy, Pacific Sunwear, Panera Bread, Patchington, Rave, Rave Theatre, Regis Salon, Select Comfort, Talbots, Trade Secret, Vitamin World and Yankee Candle.

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 8.8 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.