RALEIGH, NC -- (Marketwire) -- 01/31/13 -- Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE: HIW) today announced that it has sold Metrowest Commerce Center and Cambridge in Orlando for $14.6 million in cash. These two office properties encompass 134,000 square feet, are 100% leased to a single customer and are expected to generate $1.3 million of cash net operating income in 2013. Highwoods will continue to serve as property manager of these assets in exchange for customary fees.

Ed Fritsch, President and Chief Executive Officer of Highwoods Properties, said, "The sale of these non-core assets, the majority of which is a single-story asset, is in sync with our ongoing work to continuously improve our portfolio. These assets were not strategic to our Orlando holdings, which consist primarily of Class A CBD properties."

About Highwoods Properties
Highwoods Properties, headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, is a publicly traded (NYSE: HIW) real estate investment trust ("REIT") and a member of the S&P MidCap 400 Index. The Company is a fully integrated, self-administered REIT that provides leasing, management, development, construction and other customer-related services for its properties and for third parties. At September 30, 2012, Highwoods owned or had an interest in 333 in-service office, industrial and retail properties encompassing approximately 34.1 million square feet and owned 581 acres of development land. The Company's properties and development land are located in Florida, Georgia, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. For more information about Highwoods Properties, please visit our website at www.highwoods.com.