Shareholders of record on Sept. 15 are eligible. "At Cousins, our primary goal is to create value for our shareholders through the development of real estate," says Cousins president and CEO Tom Bell. "In selling these four properties, we were able to obtain excellent pricing from the current property markets and fully capture the value we created."
The properties are Mira Mesa MarketCenter, a 464,000-sf power center near San Diego that sold for $87 million, or $187.50 per sf, to California-based DSB Properties in late May; Cerritos Corporate Center, a two-building, 327,000-sf office project in Cerritos, CA that sold for $79.2 million, or $242.20 per sf, to Los Angeles-based Maguire Partners in late June; Presidential MarketCenter, a 374,000-sf power center in suburban Atlanta that sold for $47.2 million, or $126.20 per sf, to North Miami Beach, FL-based Equity One Inc. in mid-August; and Perimeter Expo, a 176,000-sf power center in suburban Atlanta that sold for $45 million, or $255.68 per sf, to a fund managed by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. of New York on Sept. 3.
Bell says that under the REIT provision of the Internal Revenue Code, substantial gains must be distributed to shareholders in order for the company not to incur corporate level taxes.
"The board and management determined that, due to our extremely strong financial position, an all-cash distribution was in order," Bell says. "I would note that, based on current estimates of 2003 taxable income and gains, almost all of the distributions should be taxed at the 15% federal capital gains rate, with something less than $15 million being taxed at the 25% federal recapture rate."
Cousins has been trading publicly on the New York Stock Exchange since 1962. The company's portfolio consists of interests in 13.9 million sf of conventional office and medical office space; 2.1 million sf of retail; and more than 300 acres of strategically located land for future commercial development, Bell says.
Cousins also provides leasing and management services to third-party investors and has a client-services portfolio of 6.3 million sf of office space.
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