Zacks_Analysts' Blog : HIW Leases Office Space to Belden - Analyst Blog

Highwoods Properties Inc. (HIW), a real estate investment trust (REIT), has recently signed a lease agreement for 6,900 square feet of office space in its Southwind Office Center Building C in Memphis for an undisclosed amount. The lessee was Belden, Inc. (BDC), one of the largest U.S.-based manufacturers of high-speed electronic cables and networking products for industrial automation, transportation, infrastructure and consumer electronics markets.

With the deal, the office building is currently 100% leased. Spanning 73,756 square feet of space, the leased property is a 3-story building located on the #4 fairway of the prestigious TPC at Southwind golf course. The property has several sustainability features such as energy management system, high efficiency lighting and water conservation fixtures.

Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, Highwoods owns and operates its properties through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Highwoods Realty Limited Partnerships. The company has interests in office, industrial, retail and service center properties, including development projects and apartment units. It also provides customer-related and fee-based real estate management services for its properties and third-party clients.

As of December 31, 2010, Highwoods had interests in 330 in-service office, industrial holdings and retail properties, spanning across 32.4 million square feet of gross leasable space. In addition, it also owned 611 acres of developable land.

We maintain our long-term ‘Neutral’ rating on Highwoods, which presently carries a Zacks #2 Rank that translates into a short-term ‘Buy’ recommendation and indicates that the stock is expected to perform well above the overall U.S. equity market for the next 1–3 months.