Cousins Signs Frost Bank to Anchor Congress at Fourth

Business Wire, March 11, 2003

Business Editors

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 11, 2003

Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE:CUZ) announced today it has signed Frost Bank to a 52,000-square-foot lease at Congress at Fourth, a 525,000-square-foot class A office tower under construction in downtown Austin, Texas. Frost Bank is the banking subsidiary of San Antonio-based Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. (NYSE: CFR).

Frost Bank will consolidate its downtown Austin operations, including its Financial Management Group and Frost Insurance Agency divisions, in the 33-story building. The bank will also open a retail banking facility in the building lobby. The lease brings Congress at Fourth to 46 percent leased ten months prior to its planned opening in January of next year.

Tim Hendricks, senior vice president of development at Cousins, said, "Signing Frost Bank enhances the already impressive lineup of clients who have signed leases for space in Congress at Fourth. Having a notable, Texas-based firm choose to locate at Congress at Fourth further solidifies our building as the premier place to do business in downtown Austin."

Frost Bank expects to occupy its new space in the first quarter of 2004. The bank's move from its current downtown headquarters at 816 Congress Avenue is subject to regulatory approval.

"This was a unique opportunity for us to move into a landmark office building that is changing the Austin skyline," said Marvin Rickabaugh, market president for Frost Bank's downtown location. "Consolidating all of Frost's downtown banking, financial management and insurance operations into one building will make it more convenient for our customers and staff and allow us to maintain our commitment to downtown Austin."

Michael Brown of Cousins represented the landlord and NAI/Commercial Industrial Properties brokers Alan Lacey and Eric DeJernett represented Frost Bank in the transaction.

Designed to provide a clearly recognizable symbol in the skyline of Austin through its segmented pyramidal form, Congress at Fourth is situated on 1.7 acres at the northeast corner of Fourth Street and Congress Avenue in Austin's Central Business District. The project will provide many amenities including an urban plaza, a signature restaurant, retail services and a 1,500-space parking garage.

Frost Bank is the banking subsidiary of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc., a financial holding company headquartered in San Antonio, with assets of $9.6 billion at December 31, 2002. Frost operates 78 financial centers across Texas in Austin, Boerne, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth, Galveston, Harlingen, Houston, McAllen, New Braunfels, San Antonio and San Marcos. The corporation provides a full range of financial services, including business and consumer banking products, investment and brokerage services, insurance products and investment banking services. Founded in 1868, Frost is the largest Texas-based bank, helping Texans with their financial needs during three centuries. Cullen/Frost Bankers' stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CFR.

Cousins Properties Incorporated, headquartered in Atlanta, has extensive experience in the real estate industry including the development, acquisition, financing, management and leasing of properties. The property types that Cousins actively invests in include office, retail, medical office and land development projects. The Company's portfolio consists of interests in 13.3 million square feet of office space, 3.3 million square feet of retail space and .9 million square feet of medical office space, and more than 300 acres of strategically located land for future commercial development. Cousins is a fully integrated equity real estate investment trust (REIT) that has been public since 1962 and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "CUZ." For more information on the Company, please visit Cousins' web site at www.cousinsproperties.com.