Cousins and Commonwealth to Develop First Texas Project; Two Office Buildings to Open in 2001.

Business Editors

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 1, 2000

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) and CommonWealth Partners today announced that they will commence development of two new buildings at Research Park Plaza in Austin, Texas later this year. The development is a 50/50 joint venture between Cousins and Commonwealth Partners. The two buildings will be developed and managed by Cousins Stone LP and are the first of the 510,000-square-foot project.

Construction on Building I is scheduled to commence in September 2000 with completion in August 2001. Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. has leased 100% of the 169,160-square-foot Building I to open a call center that will initially employ approximately 600 people and could ultimately grow to 3,500 employees. Stephen Walbridge and Chris Lovell of Julien J. Studley represented Charles Schwab & Co.

Construction on the 169,160-square-foot Building II is scheduled to commence in October 2000 with completion in September 2001. The Cousins/Commonwealth joint venture also owns an adjacent pad for future development of Building III totaling 169,160 square feet.

"We are excited about the start of our first office project in Texas since acquiring a 50% interest in Cousins Stone, formerly known as Faison-Stone, in mid-1999," stated Daniel M. DuPree, Cousins' president and chief operating officer. "The strategy to diversify our portfolio by expanding our presence in new markets has been very successful for Cousins. Based upon the number of opportunities we have already reviewed and the significant presence Cousins Stone has in this part of the country, we believe the Texas and Southwest markets can become a very meaningful part of our portfolio. Charles Schwab is one of the leading companies in the country, and we are pleased to be able to facilitate their growth plans for a significant presence in Austin. As Schwab's local operation grows, we believe this relationship could create additional development opportunities."

"CommonWealth Partners is particularly pleased to be entering the Austin market with an initial development of this scope, and with a tenant of Charles Schwab's stature," said Michael Croft, president and chief executive officer of CommonWealth Partners. "We look forward to creating a long term presence in Austin."

Cousins Stone currently manages a portfolio in Texas that contains approximately 7 million square feet which is primarily comprised of office properties. In addition, the group is developing a one million-square-foot phased corporate campus in Austin for Motorola, and has recently redeveloped or developed 700,000 square feet of other office properties throughout the state. Cousins Stone provides full marketing, management, land development and construction services for the 12,000-acre Las Colinas master-planned community.

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 11.7 million square feet of office space, 3.6 million square feet of retail space and 1.0 million square feet of medical office space, and more than 300 acres of strategically located land for future commercial development. 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.

CommonWealth Partners is a fully integrated real estate operating investment and development company based in Southern California. CommonWealth's principals have developed in excess of 15 million square feet of office space across the U.S. and over the past two years have been successful in completing development and investment transactions in excess of $500 million. CommonWealth Partners total investment portfolio exceeds $1 billion and is located throughout the Southwestern U.S. CommonWealth is undertaking this development through a $1 billion core joint venture with CalPERS, the largest pension fund in the U.S.