Highwoods Properties, Inc., the largest owner and operator of suburban office properties in the Southeast, is kicking off its second interior design competition with Meredith College. Fourteen interior design students, divided into teams of two, will be competing to create a stylish clothing and accessories boutique for downtown Raleigh’s RBC Plaza located at the corner of Martin and Wilmington Streets, which is owned and operated by Highwoods. The public will be invited to stop by the 2,200-square-foot retail space on April 28 to cast their vote for the design they like best.

“We are pleased to be working with Meredith’s renowned interior design program again this year,” said Thomas “Skip” Hill, Highwoods’ Raleigh Division vice president. “Through this program, the students are able to obtain real-world experience. This year we wanted to invite the public to come out and support these students as well as weigh-in on the competition.”

In an effort to provide business ideas to the students, Highwoods conducted a survey of RBC Plaza residents and customers to gauge what they would most like to see in the retail space in the building where they live and work.

“The most popular idea for the space was a clothing store where they could find unique items for themselves or to give as gifts,” added Hill.

The competition will officially kick-off on March 18, 2011, with a tour of the retail space. The student teams will present their designs to a judging panel on Wednesday, April 27, and on Thursday, April 28, the public will be invited to cast their votes. The winning team will be presented with a $500 check during a special event at RBC Plaza on Friday, April 29.

Professor of Human Environmental Sciences Martha Burpitt, and the Interior Design program coordinator at Meredith College said, “We are so excited to be partnering again with such a well respected real estate company like Highwoods Properties. The students really enjoyed last year’s competition and are ready to lend their creativity to the retail space downtown.”

About Meredith College
Chartered in 1891, Meredith College has grown to become one of the largest independent private women’s colleges in the U.S. The college’s undergraduate offerings include the Triangle area’s only interior design program accredited by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation. Meredith offers a comprehensive liberal arts undergraduate education, as well as coeducational graduate programs in business, nutrition and education. For more information, visit: www.meredith.edu.

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 one of the largest owners and operators of office properties in the Southeast and provides leasing, management, development, construction and other customer-related services for its properties and for third parties. At December 31, 2010, Highwoods owned or had an interest in 330 in-service office, industrial and retail properties encompassing approximately 32.4 million square feet and owned 611 acres of development land. The Company’s properties and development land are located in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. For more information about Highwoods Properties, visit www.highwoods.com.

Date Submitted: 2011-03-17