Highwoods Properties Inc. (HIW), a real estate investment trust (REIT), has recently renewed its lease agreement with Ogletree Deakins – the third largest labor and employment law firm in the U.S. – for 7,600 square feet of space at International Place Tower II in Memphis, Tennessee.
The renewal of the lease signifies the inherent quality of Highwoods’ properties. The leased facility spanning 208,014 square feet of space is one of the premier Class-A office properties in Memphis, with listed rates of $26 per square foot.
Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, Highwoods owns and operates its properties through its wholly owned subsidiary, Highwoods Realty Limited Partnerships. The company has interests in office, industrial, retail and service center properties, including development projects and apartment units. It also provides customer-related and fee-based real estate management services for its properties and third-party clients.
As of March 31, 2010, Highwoods had interests in 378 in-service office, industrial holdings and retail properties, spanning across 35.7 million square feet of gross leasable space, out of which 2.1 million square feet were located in Memphis. In addition, it also owned 581 acres of developable land.
Currently, Highwoods is in the process of repositioning its portfolio to focus on stronger long-term markets and newer assets. A large part of the company’s portfolio is now concentrated in high-growth Sun Belt markets, such as Atlanta, Nashville and Tampa, which should exhibit above-average job growth due to long-term demographic trends.
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