Cousins Properties (CUZ) To Sell Hearst Tower For $455.5M

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) recently announced that Truist Financial Corporation — a merger between BB&T (NYSE:TFC) and SunTrust — has exercised its option to acquire the office tower, Hearst Tower, in Uptown Charlotte from the company for $455.5 million.

The transaction is anticipated to close in March 2020, when the property will be used as Truist's headquarters.

Earlier this June, the company signed a 15-year lease with the banks for 561,000 square feet of space at the property. The lease agreement included a one-time purchase option, exercisable through fourth-quarter 2019, for BB&T and SunTrust to acquire the property from Cousins.

The 46-story trophy property spans across 970,000 square feet of space and offers a number of modern amenities. Further, easy access to I-277, I-77 and I-85 as well as proximity to Lynx Light Rail stations makes it a convenient location.

Per management, the transaction further confirms Cousins Properties’ strategy to own a portfolio of signature office towers in the best urban submarkets throughout the high-growth Sun Belt region.

Notably, this region is witnessing influx of population. The demand for office space is high amid favorable migration trend and pro-business environment. With a resilient economy and an encouraging job-market environment, the office market fundamentals of this region will likely remain robust. Hence, assets in these markets are expected to command higher rents relative to the broader market.

As for Cousins Properties, the company has significant presence in the best urban sub-markets in each city. This provides ample scope for rent growth. It is further strengthening its portfolio with trophy asset acquisitions and opportunistic developments in high-barrier-to-entry sub-markets in Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Phoenix and Tampa. These efforts bode well for long-term growth.

In the past three months, shares of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company have gained 12.4%, as against its industry’s loss of 0.4%.

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