Highwoods Agrees to Acquire Advance Auto Parts Tower in Raleigh

346,000 Square Feet,100% Leased

Adjacent to Highwoods-Owned CAPTRUST Tower in North Hills

Closing Scheduled for Next 30 Days

RALEIGH, N.C., March 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) today reported it has agreed to acquire Advance Auto Parts Tower, a 20-story, Class AA office tower located in the heart of Raleigh's vibrant mixed-use North Hills Best Business District (BBD). This 346,000 square foot, LEED-gold certified tower, which delivered in 2020, was 100% leased at December 31, 2024 with a current weighted average lease term of 8.2 years. Advance Auto Parts Tower is immediately adjacent to Highwoods-owned CAPTRUST Tower, a 16-story Class AA office tower encompassing 300,000 square feet that was 98.4% leased at December 31, 2024 with a current weighted average lease term of 6.3 years.

The Company will fund the acquisition of Advance Auto Parts Tower on roughly a leverage-neutral basis using the proceeds from the recent sale of non-core assets in Tampa that closed earlier in the first quarter.

Ted Klinck, President and CEO, stated "We are excited to expand our presence in the vibrant North Hills mixed-use BBD with the addition of Advance Auto Tower, which is adjacent to our CAPTRUST Tower. Our nearly 650,000 square feet of commute-worthy office positions us to benefit from the strong demographics that have attracted so many businesses, residents and guests to North Hills specifically, and Raleigh overall. Importantly, we expect the rotation of capital from non-core properties in Tampa to Advance Auto Tower – a best in-class property with a location second-to-none – will be neutral to near-term FFO, immediately accretive to our cash flows while increasing our growth rate and improving our portfolio quality."

The acquisition of Advance Auto Parts Tower, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is scheduled to close in the next 30 days. The Company is posting earnest money deposits in the amount of $20.0 million that are non-refundable except in limited circumstances.

About Highwoods

Highwoods Properties, Inc., headquartered in Raleigh, is a publicly-traded (NYSE:HIW), fully-integrated office real estate investment trust ("REIT") that owns, develops, acquires, leases and manages properties primarily in the best business districts (BBDs) of Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh, Richmond and Tampa. Our vision is to be a leader in the evolution of commercial real estate for the benefit of our customers, our communities and those who invest with us. Our mission is to create environments and experiences that inspire our teammates and our customers to achieve more together. We are in the work-placemaking business and believe that by creating exceptional environments and experiences, we can deliver greater value to our customers, their teammates and, in turn, our shareholders. For more information about Highwoods, please visit our website at www.highwoods.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the information in this press release may contain forward-looking statements. Such statements include, in particular, statements about our plans, strategies and prospects such as the following: closing of the planned acquisition may not occur on the terms described in this press release or at all; the expected financial and operational results and the related assumptions underlying our expected results; the planned sales of non-core assets and expected pricing and impact with respect to such sales, including the tax impact of such sales; the anticipated total investment, projected leasing activity, estimated replacement cost and expected net operating income of acquired properties and properties to be developed; and expected future leverage of the Company. You can identify forward-looking statements by our use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue" or other similar words. Although we believe that our plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot assure you that our plans, intentions or expectations will be achieved.

Factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from Highwoods' current expectations include, among others, the following: the financial condition of our customers could deteriorate; our assumptions regarding potential losses related to customer financial difficulties could prove incorrect; counterparties under our debt instruments, particularly our revolving credit facility, may attempt to avoid their obligations thereunder, which, if successful, would reduce our available liquidity; we may not be able to lease or re-lease second generation space, defined as previously occupied space that becomes available for lease, quickly or on as favorable terms as old leases; we may not be able to lease newly constructed buildings as quickly or on as favorable terms as originally anticipated; we may not be able to complete development, acquisition, reinvestment, disposition or joint venture projects as quickly or on as favorable terms as anticipated; development activity in our existing markets could result in an excessive supply relative to customer demand; our markets may suffer declines in economic and/or office employment growth; increases in interest rates could increase our debt service costs; increases in operating expenses could negatively impact our operating results; natural disasters and climate change could have an adverse impact on our cash flow and operating results; 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 repay or refinance outstanding debt upon maturity; and the Company could lose key executive officers.

This list of risks and uncertainties, however, is not intended to be exhaustive. You should also review the other cautionary statements we make in "Risk Factors" set forth in our 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect any future events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.