Cousins Closes $1.1 Billion Texas Deal

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Atlanta-based Cousins Properties has closed on a $1.1 billion deal for a portfolio of office buildings in Texas.

The REIT paid all cash for the portfolio, which includes Greenway Plaza, a 10-building, 4.4 million-square-foot office portfolio in Houston, and 777 Main, a 980,000-square-foot office tower in Fort Worth, Texas.

The seller was a joint venture operated by Crescent Real Estate Holdings.

Cousins backed the deal with a $690 million stock offering and two new mortgages. The REIT is focusing on strengthening its portfolio of trophy office towers in Houston, Dallas, Austin and Atlanta, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

"We think it's a good deal, the street thinks it's a good deal and we think that the street has and will continue to respond favorably to it," John Guinee, managing director with brokerage and investment banking firm Stifel Nicolaus & Co. Inc., told Commercial Property Executive.