CUZ Cousins Properties Inc

Rayonier (NYSE:RYN) and Cousins Properties (NYSE:CUZ) have announced a strategic alliance to master plan and entitle approximately 6,300 acres in Flagler County, Florida, adjacent to Palm Coast. �Flagler County is one of the fastest growing counties in the U.S. We�ve chosen this site to apply our strategy to work with premier developers, like Cousins, to create quality communities that are assets to area residents,� said Lee M. Thomas, Rayonier Chairman, President and CEO. �Cousins has a proven track record of successfully planning and developing outstanding communities and commercial real estate throughout the Southeast. While we have expertise in entitling properties, we believe Cousins� land planning and development expertise will help create value for this new community and our shareholders,� he added. Cousins Properties Chairman and CEO Thomas D. Bell said, �Cousins has a long history of partnering with large land owners on groundbreaking projects and I am especially pleased to join forces with Rayonier to begin planning in Flagler County. This is an impressive tract of land and it could well be a project both companies will view with pride for years to come.� The property is owned by Rayonier�s real estate development subsidiary, TerraPointe LLC. About Rayonier Rayonier is a leading international forest products company with three core businesses: Timber, Real Estate and Performance Fibers. The company owns, leases or manages 2.6 million acres of timber and land in the United States and New Zealand. The company�s real estate development subsidiary, TerraPointe LLC, maximizes the value of its extensive higher-and-better use properties, particularly in the fast-growing counties along Interstate 95 between Savannah, Georgia, and Daytona Beach, Florida, where Rayonier owns approximately 200,000 acres. Rayonier is structured as a real estate investment trust. For further information, visit the company�s web site at www.rayonier.com. About Cousins Properties Cousins Properties Incorporated, headquartered in Atlanta, has extensive experience in the real estate industry including the development, acquisition, financing, management and leasing of properties. The property types that Cousins actively invests in include office, multi-family, retail, industrial and land development projects. Since its founding in 1958, the Company has developed more than 20 million square feet of office space, 20 million square feet of retail space, more than 3,500 multi-family units and more than 60 single-family neighborhoods. The Company is a fully integrated equity real estate investment trust (REIT) and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CUZ. For more information, please visit www.cousinsproperties.com. Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements are identified by the use of words such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "estimate," "believe," "allow," "anticipate" and other similar language. The following important factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements: the cyclical nature of the real estate industry and markets; fluctuations in demand for, or supply of, real estate and the existence of competing developers and communities; changes in the demographics affecting projected population growth and migration to Florida and the Southeastern U.S.; the potential for legal challenges to land use entitlements and permits in connection with our properties; changes in environmental laws and regulations, including laws regarding water withdrawal and management, delineation of wetlands, and endangered species, that may restrict or adversely impact our ability to develop properties; the cost of the development of property generally, including the cost of property taxes, labor and construction materials; the timing of construction and availability of public infrastructure; changes in interest rates and the availability of financing for real estate development and mortgage loans; unexpected delays in the entry into or closing of real estate transactions; the lengthy, uncertain and costly process associated with the ownership and development of real estate, which also may be affected by changes in law, policy and political factors beyond our control; and additional factors described in Rayonier's most recent Form 10-K on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Rayonier assumes no obligation to update these statements except as may be required by law.