Highwoods Properties Promotes Thomas ``Skip'' Hill to Vice President of Raleigh Division.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW), the largest owner and operator of suburban office properties in the Southeast, today announced that Thomas "Skip" Hill has been promoted to Vice President and Division Manager of the Company's Raleigh division. The 19-year commercial real estate veteran will oversee all of the division's day-to-day operations including leasing, property management and development activities. Previously, Mr. Hill was Corporate Vice President of Leasing where he was responsible for overseeing the Company's leasing activities across division lines and expanding and leveraging the Company's multi-market customer program. As previously reported, Mike Harris, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Highwoods, will continue to serve as the Company's primary contact for the development of the RBC Headquarters Building in downtown Raleigh.

Ed Fritsch, president and chief executive officer of Highwoods, stated, "Skip's extensive real estate expertise, successful track record, hands-on experience and strong knowledge of our Company and culture will serve Highwoods and our customers well. He is very familiar with the division team, and knows many of our customers, brokers and vendors. Skip has a strong work ethic and I am confident he will be extremely successful in his new role."

Skip joined Highwoods in July 2002 as Senior Director of Leasing and Construction Services for the Piedmont Triad Division, where he was responsible for marketing, leasing and construction services for a portfolio of 8.5 million square feet of office and industrial buildings.

Before joining Highwoods, Skip was Vice President of Leasing and Development for Liberty Property Trust, serving the Triad, North Carolina region for nine years. Skip has 19 years of experience in commercial and industrial real estate development, property management, leasing and brokerage.

Skip currently serves as a 2004-2007 board member on the National Board of Directors for NAIOP; is the Immediate Past President of the North Carolina CCIM organization; and a past President and Director of the North Carolina Triad NAIOP chapter.

He is a 1984 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a degree in Business Administration.

About the Company

Highwoods Properties, Inc., a member of the S&P MidCap 400 Index, is a fully integrated, self-administered real estate investment trust ("REIT") that provides leasing, management, development, construction and other customer-related services for its properties and for third parties. As of December 31, 2005, the Company owned or had an interest in 447 in-service office, industrial and retail properties encompassing approximately 37.0 million square feet. Highwoods also owns 898 acres of development land. Highwoods is based in Raleigh, North Carolina, and its properties and development land are located in Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. For more information about Highwoods Properties, please visit our Web site at www.highwoods.com.