Cousins Properties Incorporated (CUZ) disclosed that its Class-A office development project – Colorado Tower – in downtown Austin, TX is now 95% pre-leased. The company inked five leasing deals for adding top tenants and pushing up the occupancy level at the property.
In particular, Cousins Properties inked the lease deals with five prominent tenants, namely Parsley Energy, Inc. (PE), Invesco Management Group, Inc., Atlassian, Inc., Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP and IPSoft, Inc.
Notably, Colorado Tower – a 373,000 square feet development – is centrally located in Downtown Austin’s Warehouse District. It is believed to be the next high-rise tower in Austin, after Cousins’ Frost Bank Tower, which was developed in 2003. The tower is projected to be delivered by Dec 2014.
Clearly, given the strong pre-leasing activity, Colorado Tower is well positioned to capitalize on opportunities in the Downtown Austin market. As a matter of fact, for over 20 years, this real estate investment trust (REIT) has enjoyed strong presence in the market with high-end office properties such as Frost Bank Tower, 816 Congress and Palisades West.
As a matter of fact, Cousins Properties is making dedicated efforts to simplify its business by specifically targeting trophy assets and opportunistic mixed-use developments in the best urban submarkets. Also, the company aims towards maintaining a flexible balance sheet with ample liquidity to not only capitalize on opportunistic acquisitions but also leverage on improving market fundamentals and raise operational efficiency.
Cousins Properties currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Investors interested in the REIT industry may consider better-ranked stocks like Government Properties Income Trust (GOV) and Chatham Lodging Trust (CLDT). Government Properties Income Trust carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while Chatham Lodging has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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