Cousins Sells Charlotte Office Building for $100 Million.

ATLANTA -- Company retains management of 526,000-square-foot 101 Independence Center in sale to American Financial Realty Trust

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE: CUZ) announced today the sale of 101 Independence Center, a 20-story, 526,000-square-foot office building in downtown Charlotte, N.C., for $100 million, or approximately $190 per square foot. The buyer is American Financial Realty Trust (NYSE: AFR), a Jenkintown, Pa.-based REIT that focuses on assets primarily under long-term triple net and bond net leases with financial institutions. The GAAP gain on the sale was $35.8 million and, after removing $21.4 million attributable to accumulated depreciation and other adjustments, resulted in value creation of $14.4 million.

At closing, 101 Independence Center was 97 percent leased to clients including Bank of America and law firm Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson. As part of the sale, Cousins will remain as property manager at the building.

"We're proud that 101 Independence drew a high level of interest from potential buyers and that we were able to capture the value created here since we acquired the building in 1996," said Tom Bell, president and CEO of Cousins. "Over the years, Cousins has built a reputation for owning high-quality office buildings and operating them to the highest standards in the industry. That level of service translates into higher client retention, which ultimately adds value for our shareholders."

This is the second office disposition for Cousins this year. In May, Cousins sold 333 John Carlyle and 1900 Duke Street, both in Alexandria, Va., to Grosvenor USA Limited for $80 million.

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 13.3 million square feet of office and medical office space, 3.1 million square feet of retail space, over 1,980 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 7 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.