RALEIGH, NC (REIT Media) March 13, 2008 - Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE: HIW), the largest owner and operator of suburban office properties in the Southeast, today announced that it will begin development of Highwoods River Point, a $10.4 million, 200,000 square foot industrial building in Northwest Atlanta. This is the first development to be built on this 110-acre industrial tract that Highwoods acquired in May 2007. The Company has pre-leased 100,000 square feet of Highwoods River Point to Beverage House Inc., a privately held manufacturer and distributor of tea. Construction will begin in the second quarter of 2008 and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2009.

Ed Fritsch, president and chief executive officer of Highwoods, stated “Highwoods River Point Business Park is a great industrial tract with quick access to I-75. The Park will support eight industrial buildings totaling approximately 1.3 million square feet and we are excited to have Beverage House as our first major customer. We are also pleased to expand our industrial presence in the Atlanta market where we currently own 2.8 million square feet of industrial properties that are, on average, 95.2% occupied.”

With the addition of this development project, the Company’s development pipeline grows to 2.4 million square feet, representing an investment of $389 million that is 70% pre-leased. These developments are expected to generate stabilized cash returns on the total investment of between 9% and 10%.

Certain matters discussed in this press release, such as expected future operational results and the related assumptions underlying our expected operational results, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements are distinguished by use of the words "will", "expect", "intends" and words of similar meaning. Although Highwoods believes that 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 Highwoods' current expectations include, among others, the following: the financial condition of our customers could deteriorate; unwaived defaults, if any, under our debt instruments could result in an acceleration of some of our outstanding debt; speculative development by others could result in excessive supply of office properties relative to customer demand; we may not be able to lease or re-lease space quickly or on as favorable terms as old leases; unexpected difficulties in obtaining additional capital to satisfy our future cash needs or unexpected increases in interest rates would increase our debt service costs; and others detailed in the Company’s 2007 Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent SEC reports.

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. At December 31, 2007, the Company owned or had an interest in 378 in-service office, industrial and retail properties encompassing approximately 33.9 million square feet. Highwoods also owns 634 acres of development land. Highwoods is based in Raleigh, North Carolina, and its properties and development land are located in Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. For more information about Highwoods Properties, please visit our Web site at www.highwoods.com.

Highwoods Properties
Tabitha Zane, Vice President, Investor Relations
919-431-1529