Highwoods Properties Inc. (HIW), a real estate investment trust (“REIT”), has dismissed widespread rumors about its build-to-suit property in Country Club Plaza – an upscale shopping district and residential neighborhood in Kansas City, and pledged its long-term commitment instead.
 
Speculation was rife that Highwoods’ ownership was a short-term hold and it was mulling to sell Country Club Plaza. Highwoods issued a press release to thwart the negative publicity and reiterated that the property was an integral part of its diversified portfolio of real estate assets. The company stated that it had invested $50 million over a period of 12 years (since its acquisition) for renovations of the project and had no plans to sell the same.
 
Highwoods also stressed that about 40% of the plaza was leased by local tenants and there were no attempts to replace them with large national retailers. The company further stated that the modified design of the building would preserve the aesthetics of the Kansas City shopping district. The new motif would also retain the so-called Balcony Building and the two-story tower located at the corner of the intersection.
 
The modified structure would set the building back 70 feet from the curb of Broadway to provide ample space for a courtyard carved out of the existing storefront to provide access to law firm Polsinelli Shughart. The color of the building would change from light-gray to pale-brownish in keeping with the existing color code of Country Club Plaza.
 
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 June 30, 2010, Highwoods had interests in 330 in-service office, industrial holdings and retail properties, spanning 32.0 million square feet of gross leasable space. In addition, it also owned 581 acres of developable land.
 
Currently, Highwoods carries a Zacks #2 Rank, which translates into a short-term Buy recommendation and indicates that the stock is expected to outperform the overall U.S. equity market for the next 1-3 months. We maintain our long-term Neutral rating on Highwoods.
 
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