Highwoods Properties Inc. (HIW)

Highwoods Properties owns, develops and leases office buildings in the best business districts of Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh, Richmond and Tampa 1. Its latest quarterly report shows revenue growing again 2. Rental and other revenues were $16.4 million, or 8.1%, higher in the third quarter of 2026 than a year earlier 2.

The company credits office buildings it bought in Raleigh, Charlotte and Dallas, plus higher rents and higher occupancy 2. Occupancy of its office space rose from 85.3% at the end of 2025 to 87.0% at the end of September 2026 2.

Rents on new and renewed leases signed in the quarter were 28.8% above the rents on the previous leases for the same space 2. The open question is how long that lasts, since the company itself warns that working from home could lower the demand for office space over the long term 1.

Highwoods was incorporated in Maryland in 1994 1. Its operating partnership, a partnership in which the company owns nearly all the common units, was formed in North Carolina in the same year 1.

Rental and other revenues edged down over three years, from $834.0 million in 2023 to $825.9 million in 2024 and $806.1 million in 2025 1.

The 2025 drop of $19.8 million, or 2.4%, came mainly from buildings sold, weaker revenue from buildings it kept and properties taken out of service 1. Lower average occupancy and lower cost recoveries, the costs tenants pay back to the landlord, explain the weaker revenue from buildings it kept 1.

Occupancy of the office portfolio fell from 87.1% at the end of 2024 to 85.3% at the end of 2025 1. Average occupancy was 90.0% in 2021 and 85.5% in 2025, while average rent per square foot rose from $30.75 to $34.80 over the same years 1.

The company says it keeps trying to improve the portfolio by selling properties that no longer meet its criteria 1. In 2025 it bought Advance Auto Parts Tower in Raleigh for $137.9 million and a parking garage at Legacy Union in Charlotte for $110.2 million 1. In the fourth quarter it bought the 6HUNDRED office building in Charlotte for $193.4 million 1.

It also sold property: in the first quarter of 2025 it sold three buildings in Tampa and land in Pittsburgh for $146.3 million and recorded net gains of $82.2 million 1.

What it does

Highwoods is a fully-integrated REIT, a real estate investment trust, which is a company that owns rental property 1. Its primary business is the operation, acquisition and development of office properties 1. It staffs leasing, management, maintenance and customer service itself instead of hiring outside firms 1.

Where the money comes from

The biggest markets by share of annualized rental revenue at the end of 2025 were Raleigh at 21.6%, Nashville at 18.7% and Atlanta at 16.9% 1. The whole portfolio covers 26,830,000 rentable square feet and was 85.3% occupied 1.

Only Bank of America, at 4.3%, and Asurion, at 3.5%, each accounted for more than 3% of annualized revenues at the end of 2025 1.

People, rivals and problems

Theodore J Klinck has been chief executive officer since September 2019 1. The company had 315 full-time employees at the end of 2025, 32 fewer than a year earlier 1.

Its buildings compete with similar properties in its markets on location, rent, services and the design, quality and condition of the buildings 1. It also competes with other REITs, financial institutions, pension funds and individual investors when buying or building property 1.

Its debt, shown as mortgages and notes payable, was $3.51 billion in its latest balance sheet 2.

The umbrella, in words

Highwoods Properties owns all the preferred units and 98.2% of the common units of its operating partnership, and outside limited partners hold the remaining 2.0 million common units, as of the end of 2025 1.

It owns 50.0% of the Granite Park Six joint venture 1. Its consolidated joint ventures include Bloc 83 in Raleigh, where it owns 10.0%, The Terraces in Dallas, where it owns 80.0%, and Midtown West in Tampa, where it owns 80.0% 2.

Its Ovation land in Nashville is entitled and master planned for up to 1,225,000 square feet of additional office, 1,594 residential units, 430,000 square feet of retail and 350 hotel keys 2.

The company expects rental and other revenues to be higher in 2026 than in 2025, citing buildings bought in 2025 and 2026 1. It anticipates starting up to $400 million of new office development in the rest of 2026, with none delivered until 2028 or beyond 2.

It also anticipates buying up to $85 million of properties in the rest of 2026 and expects average office occupancy of 87.0% to 88.0% for the same period 2.

The work at Ovation is intended to make possible the sale of parts of the land to others for homes, shops and hotels, and later office buildings built by the company 2. Its $750.0 million revolving credit facility is scheduled to mature in January 2028 2.

No clue on file points to a new direction yet.