Cousins Properties Signs Transocean Ltd. Renewal and Provides Houston Update

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Jun 02, 2015, 05:00 ET

ATLANTA, June 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE: CUZ) announced today that it has signed a lease renewal with Transocean Ltd. for 255,413 square feet at Greenway Plaza in Houston, TX.

"I'm delighted to announce that Transocean will maintain its U.S. headquarters at Greenway Plaza, its home since 2001," said Larry Gellerstedt, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cousins. "With this renewal, we continue to mitigate our lease exposure in Houston while also achieving significant roll ups in rental rates and outperforming our original underwriting expectations. Incorporating the Transocean renewal, the weighted average lease term in our Houston portfolio now stands at approximately seven years with no single lease greater than 100,000 square feet expiring until December 2018."

Transocean, the fourth largest customer in Cousins' Houston portfolio, currently occupies 4 Greenway Plaza in its entirety. This 255,413 square foot transaction renews 100 percent of their current space at 4 Greenway Plaza and extends their expiration on this space from January 2017 to January 2023. Transocean also currently occupies an additional 13,552 square feet of space in 3800 Buffalo Speedway at Greenway Plaza which expires January 2017.

Greenway Plaza is a 4.5 million square-foot Class A office complex located in the Greenway submarket of Houston, TX. With the Transocean renewal, leasing at Greenway Plaza now stands at 90 percent. Bob Boykin, Warren Savery, Bubba Harkins and Will Hightower represented Cousins in this transaction.

Transocean is a leading international provider of offshore contract drilling services for energy companies, owning and operating among the world's most versatile fleets with particular focus on deepwater and harsh-environment drilling. Jay Bonano of Savills Studley, Inc. represented Transocean in this transaction.

A detailed update of the Company's Houston portfolio can be found on the Investor Relations section of Cousins' website: www.cousinsproperties.com.

About Cousins Properties Incorporated

Cousins Properties Incorporated is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company, based in Atlanta, GA, primarily invests in Class-A office assets located in high growth Sunbelt markets, with a focus on Georgia, Texas and North Carolina. The Company has a comprehensive strategy in place based on a simple platform, trophy assets and opportunistic investments. For more information, please visit www.cousinsproperties.com.

CONTACT:
Marli Quesinberry
Director, Investor Relations
404-407-1898
[email protected]

SOURCE Cousins Properties Incorporated