Cousins to Purchase One Ninety One Peachtree Tower; Planned Acquisition Includes Relocation of Cousins' Headquarters to Downtown Landmark.

ATLANTA -- Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE: CUZ) announced today it has reached an agreement to purchase One Ninety One Peachtree Tower, a 50-story, 1.2 million-square-foot office building in downtown Atlanta, from Equity Office (NYSE: EOP) for $153 million or approximately $127 per square foot. One Ninety One Peachtree Tower is currently 51 percent leased and less than 20 percent occupied. The transaction is in due diligence until August 22 and the sale is expected to close in mid-September. The closing is subject to normal contingencies and is conditioned upon the successful closing of Cousins' pending sale of Frost Bank Tower, a 33-story, 531,000-square-foot office building in downtown Austin, Texas, to Equity Office.

Cousins also announced today that it will relocate its company headquarters from Cobb County's Wildwood Office Park to One Ninety One Peachtree during the first half of 2007. Cousins sold its current headquarters building, 2500 Windy Ridge Parkway in Wildwood, to Wells Real Estate Funds in 2004. The move to One Ninety One Peachtree brings Cousins to the downtown landmark that it co-developed with Hines, a Houston-based developer, on behalf of Dutch Institutional Holding Company. The building opened in 1990.

"This completes the circle for our company with regard to One Ninety One and we are delighted to acquire this tremendous hometown landmark - one that we originally co-developed. One Ninety One has enormous value creation potential and I'm certain our team is up to the challenge," said Tom Bell, president and CEO of Cousins.

"Our headquarters move gives Cousins an opportunity to participate in and contribute to the exciting revitalization efforts going on downtown. Our company has always supported a dynamic downtown and now we'll be in a better position to help make it happen," said Craig Jones, executive vice president with Cousins and chairman of the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District.

"It is a thrill to welcome Cousins to downtown. Over the past few years, the downtown business community, joined by city and community leaders, has worked hard to create an inviting environment here and Cousins' decision to acquire One Ninety One and invest in downtown is yet another indication that our efforts are paying off," said A.J. Robinson, president of Central Atlanta Progress. "I look forward to Cousins becoming an advocate for its new neighborhood."

Cousins' move to downtown means the company will not be relocating its headquarters to Terminus 100, its under-construction 650,000-square-foot office building in Buckhead, as it had announced in May 2005.

"Leasing momentum at Terminus 100 has been very strong, as evidenced by the three new leases we announced in May. With the prospects we are pursuing there, we were quickly leasing ourselves out of space and probably would have had to wait for the delivery of Terminus 200 in 2009," Bell said. "The One Ninety One opportunity provides another option - one that will benefit the company, our shareholders and downtown."

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, multi-family, retail, industrial and land development projects. The Company's portfolio consists of interests in 7.4 million square feet of office space, 3.8 million square feet of retail space, 1.3 million square feet of industrial space, one multi-family residential project and 23 single-family neighborhood developments, over 9,200 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 13 million square feet of office and retail 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 Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005. 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.