Highwoods to Develop Midtown One in Tampa

$72 Million Anticipated Total Investment, 150,000 Square Feet

Highwoods Owns 80% Interest in Midtown One Joint Venture

600,000 Square Feet of Additional Planned Midtown Office Development

Renews Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville

Largest 2020 Expiration Renewed

Additional 20,000 Square Foot Expansion at Adjacent Building

RALEIGH, N.C., May 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) and The Bromley Companies have formed a joint venture to construct Midtown One, a 150,000 square foot, multi-customer office building located in the mixed-use Midtown Tampa project in Tampa’s Westshore submarket.  Highwoods owns an 80% interest in the joint venture.  Midtown One has an anticipated total investment of $72 million. 

This speculative office building will be embedded in the expansive Midtown Tampa mixed-use project.  The building, which will be LEED-certified, is already attracting significant interest from prospective users.  In addition to the building’s strong presence on Dale Mabry Highway, prospects are drawn to the numerous amenities already underway at Midtown Tampa and its central location connecting downtown to Westshore, two of Tampa’s BBDs (Best Business Districts). 

Midtown Tampa is a new mixed-use project on 22 acres with a total projected investment of more than $500 million that will encompass 1.8 million square feet of overall development.  The project is planned for 750,000 square feet of office, 220,000 square feet of retail and entertainment, 390 multi-family units and 225 hotel rooms.  In addition, Midtown Tampa will feature outdoor gathering space, walking trails and a 3-acre lake.  The project has excellent access to the major transportation nodes of I-275, Dale Mabry Highway and W. Cypress Street. The retail and entertainment portion of the project is under construction and approximately 50% pre-leased to a mix of national and local customers, including Whole Foods, Burton’s Grill, Ponte Group Restaurant, True Food Kitchen and others.  The multi-family development, Novel by Crescent Communities, and a dual-branded Aloft and Element hotel by Concord Hospitality, are also under construction.  Bromley is the master developer of Midtown Tampa. 

Construction of Midtown One is projected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2019 with a scheduled completion date in the first quarter of 2021, and a pro forma stabilization date in the fourth quarter of 2022. Midtown One is the first of three planned office buildings for Midtown Tampa. Highwoods and Bromley will be marketing the remaining planned office space, comprising two buildings and approximately 600,000 square feet. 

 

Ed Fritsch, CEO, stated “We’re excited to participate in this mixed-use development and partner with Bromley as we start Midtown One. Midtown Tampa’s fully integrated mixed-use aspect, especially at this scale, is a first for the overall Tampa market and represents an excellent long-term opportunity for Highwoods.  Having the retail, multi family, hotel and office partners all on board, fully financed and commencing construction gives us increased confidence in the successful outlook for Midtown Tampa.   Further, with limited spec office development underway in Tampa and healthy demand, we believe this is an opportune time to commence construction of Midtown One.”

With the addition of Midtown One, Highwoods development pipeline has grown to $707 million comprising 1.7 million square that is 84.3% pre-leased.  

For more information about Midtown Tampa, please visit the project’s website at . 

Vanderbilt Lease Renewal and Expansion

Highwoods also announced it has signed a 210,000 square foot renewal with Vanderbilt University Medical Center at 3401 West End in Nashville. This was the Company’s largest lease expiration in 2020.  The new lease is scheduled to expire in late 2025.  In addition, Vanderbilt University Medical Center expanded its presence in Nashville’s West End submarket with Highwoods by signing an additional 20,000 square foot lease at 3322 West End.    

About Highwoods

Highwoods Properties, Inc., headquartered in Raleigh, is a publicly-traded (NYSE:HIW) real estate investment trust (“REIT”) and a member of the S&P MidCap 400 Index. The Company is a fully integrated office REIT that owns, develops, acquires, leases and manages properties primarily in the best business districts (BBDs) of Atlanta, Greensboro, Memphis, Nashville, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Richmond and Tampa.

Certain matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, such as the planned development of the building described above and anticipated total investment, projected leasing activity and expected timing and impact of the building to be developed. These statements are distinguished by use of the words "will," “plan,” “anticipate,” "expect," "intend" and words of similar meaning. Although Highwoods believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company’s current expectations include, among others, the following: our use of joint ventures may limit our flexibility with jointly owned investments; development activity by our competitors in our existing markets could result in excessive supply of properties relative to customer demand; development, acquisition, reinvestment, disposition or joint venture projects may not be completed as quickly or on as favorable terms as anticipated; we may not be able to lease or re-lease second generation space quickly or on as favorable terms as old leases; our markets may suffer declines in economic growth; we may not be able to lease our newly constructed buildings as quickly or on as favorable terms as originally anticipated; unanticipated increases in interest rates could increase our debt service costs; unanticipated increases in operating expenses could negatively impact our NOI; we may not be able to meet our liquidity requirements or obtain capital on favorable terms to fund our working capital needs and growth initiatives or to repay or refinance outstanding debt upon maturity; the Company could lose key executive officers; and others detailed in the Company’s 2018 Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent SEC reports.