Cousins Announces Departure of Tad Leithead

ATLANTA, GA– Cousins Properties Incorporated (NYSE: CUZ) announced that Tad Leithead, (top right photo) Senior Vice President of Development, will be leaving the Company effective September 1.

Leithead, who joined the Company in 2002, will continue to represent Cousins through his new business, a community and government relations consulting firm.

"Tad is a valuable part of the Cousins team and the entire Atlanta community," said Larry Gellerstedt, (bottom left photo) President and CEO of Cousins. "We wish him the best with his new venture and are pleased that he’ll continue to represent the Company."

"I’ve always wanted to pursue a career in politics and community relations," added Leithead. "I’m proud to have worked for Cousins and am excited and honored that the relationship will continue."

CONTACT: Cameron Golden, (404) 407-1984, camerongolden@cousinsproperties.com

http://www.cousinsproperties.com/

EastGroup Properties Announces 119th Consecutive Quarterly Cash Dividend

JACKSON, MS– EastGroup Properties (NYSE-EGP) announced today that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $.52 per share payable on September 30, 2009 to shareholders of record of Common Stock on September 18, 2009.

This dividend is the 119th consecutive quarterly distribution to EastGroup's shareholders and represents an annualized dividend rate of $2.08 per share.

EastGroup Properties, Inc. is a self-administered equity real estate investment trust focused on the development, acquisition and operation of industrial properties in major Sunbelt markets throughout the United States with an emphasis in the states of Florida, Texas, Arizona and California.

Its strategy for growth is based on its property portfolio orientation toward premier business distribution facilities clustered near major transportation features. EastGroup's portfolio currently includes 27.7 million square feet.

Contact: David H. Hoster II, (bottom left photo) President and Chief Executive Officer or N. Keith McKey, Chief Financial Officer, (601) 354-3555

Arbor Closes $905,500 Fannie Mae DUS® MAH Loan for Mansfield Apartments in Hartford, CT

UNIONDALE, NY - Arbor Commercial Funding, LLC (“Arbor”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Arbor Commercial Mortgage, LLC, announced the recent funding of a $905,500 loan under the Fannie Mae DUS® Multifamily Affordable Housing product line for the 60-unit complex known as Mansfield Apartments in Hartford, CT.

The 10-year loan amortizes on a 25-year schedule and carries a note rate of 5.95 percent.

The loan was originated by John Edwards, Vice President, in Arbor’s full-service Boston, MA lending office. “We were pleased to provide a low leverage loan to a repeat Arbor client,” said Edwards.

Contact: Ingrid Principe, P: 516.506.4298, F: 516.542.2555, www.arbor.com
Follow us on Twitter @ arbor1

Best Western International Drive, Orlando Gets $3.8M Loan

ORLANDO, FL--Thomas D. Wood and Company, a Strategic Alliance Mortgage LLC member, secured financing on August 21, 2009, in the amount of $3,837,750 for the International Drive Best Western (top right photo) in Orlando, Florida.

John Worrell, Company Assistant Vice President, and Doug Rozzell, Company Principal, financed the acquisition and repositioning of the International Drive Best Western under a SBA 504 85% Loan-to-Cost loan structure through Thomas D. Wood and Company’s relationship with a Regional Bank.

The bank provided a 50% first mortgage, and a bridge lender which provided the remaining 35% second mortgage based upon the SBA approval which will be funded by a local CDC upon Certificate of Occupancy.

The first mortgage has an interest rate of 10%, and the bridge debenture has an interest rate of 8.5%, based on a 10-year term and 20-year amortization. The loan-to-value is 72% and the loan-to-cost is 85%. The 120-room hotel was built in 1985, and is located at 8222 Jamaican Court, Orlando, Florida.

For further information, please contact:
John Worrell, (407) 937-0470, jworrell@tdwood.com
Doug Rozzell, (407) 937-0470, drozzell@tdwood.com
Jessica Gurtowski, (407) 937-0470, jgurtowski@tdwood.com

NAI Realvest's George Livingston Sees Mixed Signals on Economy

ORLANDO, FL- Veteran commercial real estate and investments analyst George Livingston, (top right photo) chairman emeritus of NAI Realvest in Maitland, said the Federal Bank of Atlanta’s recent economic update reports mixed signals on the U.S. economy but good news for the U.S. housing market.

While consumer gauges---the U.S. Consumer Confidence Index and the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index---showed declines, capital goods orders increased modestly in June for the first time in more than a year.

Two major housing indices may signal a bottoming of the housing slump and the path toward recovery. The widely respected Case-Shiller Home Price Index was up, Livingston said, and new and existing single-family home sales were up in June for the third month in a row---and higher than industry expectations.

“It appears the housing market may be recovering and the rest of the economy is lagging,” said Livingston.

For more information, contact:
George Livingston, Chairman Emeritus, NAI Realvest, 407-875-9989, glivingston@realvest.com
Patrick Mahoney, President, NAI Realvest, 407-875-9989, pmahoney@realvest.com
Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, Larry Vershel Communications, 407-644-4142 lvershelco@aol.com

Wyndham Hotel Group Appoints Global Sales Executive

PARSIPPANY, NJ – Wyndham Hotel Group, the world’s largest hotel company with more than 7,000 hotels and 11 brands, has promoted long-time Wyndham® brand employee Carla Dunn (top left photo) to vice president of Global Sales for transient and specialty markets, including corporate travel planners and travel agents.

Dunn will direct the global management of relationships with key industry clients and segments, including travel management companies, consortia, business travel, government travel, member benefits, tour, wholesale, transportation and sports and leisure.

A sales and marketing professional with expertise in competitive market assessment, strategy and sales team development, she joined Wyndham Hotel Group in early 2008 as area director of sales for the Wyndham brand, responsible for leading sales efforts for the brand’s portfolio of franchised hotels.

“Carla has a strong track record of ensuring growth for major company accounts,” said Ross Hosking, (bottom right photo) Wyndham Hotel Group executive vice president of Global Sales.


“Her first-hand knowledge of the lodging industry and expertise in the area of sales will serve Wyndham Hotel Group well as we look to expand our hold on key transient and specialty market accounts.”

Dunn has previously served in corporate and property level sales positions for multiple national and international hotel companies, including Remington Hotels in Dallas, the Procaccianti Group in Cranston, R.I. and the former Wyndham International in Dallas.

CONTACT:
Rob Myers, Communications Coordinator, Wyndham Hotel Group, 22 Sylvan Way, Parsippany, NJ 07054. PH 973-753-6590, rob.myers@wyndhamworldwide.com