It's been a while since we heard anything about the fate of Project Prince and Project Cardinal, two economic development projects that had the potential to bring two major companies to Raleigh.

The companies behind the code-named projects were widely rumored to be Radio Shack (Prince) and Fannie Mae (Cardinal). Radio Shack is currently based in Fort Worth, Tex. while Fannie Mae has headquarters in Washington D.C. and major operations in Dallas.

On today's Highwoods Properties conference call, CEO Ed Fritsch was asked about the two projects by an analyst.

After saying that Highwoods did not know who the mystery companies were, Fritsch said the trail appears to have gone cold.

"We haven't heard much on them lately," Fritsch said.

Fritsch was also asked whether the leasing environment has improved in recent months in the markets where Highwoods operates.

Fritsch said the company is seeing more activity on the leasing front but it's not yet resulting in a lot of deals getting signed.

Fritsch said the Raleigh real estate investment trust believes its strong balance sheet is giving it an advantage in a leasing environment where brokers have become much more worried about a landlord's health and ability to pay out commissions.