Raleigh real-estate developer Highwoods Properties has scrapped plans to build a $58 million office headquarters in Kansas City for the law firm Poisinelli Shughart.

The law firm notified Highwoods that it has terminated the deal and is considering other locations in Kansas and Missouri.

The development would have required tearing down an existing apartment building and ran into unexpected opposition from city officials and residents. 

Research in Motion, the Canadian company that makes the BlackBerry devices, has expanded its presence in the Triangle.

The company said in a regulatory filing this week that it has added more office space in Highwoods Properties CentreGreen campus in Cary and now occupies a total of 78,000 square feet.

RIM has been tight-lipped about its operations in the Triangle ever since initially announcing last year that it planned to open an office in the region.

RIM is part of a growing cluster of mobile technology companies that have recently opened offices in the Triangle.

Umicore USA, a maker of materials used in roofs, automobiles, chemicals and other products, has signed a lease for 15,000 square feet in the Highwoods Properties building at 3600 Glenwood Avenue.

Umicore has been leasing about 12,000 square feet in an older office building in the 150-acre Highwoods Office Park that is located just beyond the Beltline between Atlantic Avenue and Capital Boulevard.

That building was one of four that were foreclosed upon and taken back by the lender for $22 million in October.

The lender, Column Financial, the commercial real estate lending arm of investment bank Credit Suisse, then sold the properties to BlackRock Financial Management for $22 million in November, according to Wake County property records.

Umicore has had its U.S. headquarters in Raleigh since 1997. The company employs 44 employees and had outgrown its existing space, said President Richard Laird.

Umicore's parent company, Umicore Group, is based in Belgium.
 

A city commission in Kansas City narrowly voted down a Highwoods Properties plan to build a $58 million office building for the law firm Poisinelli Shughart.

Tuesday's 3-2 vote by the City Plan Comission derails the project, at least temporarily.

Highwoods now must get a City Councilor to introduce an ordinance allowing the project to go before the full council.

An attorney for Highwoods said Tuesday that the Raleigh real estate invesmtent trust expects that to happen given how close the City Plan Commission vote was.

Opponents of the project packed Tuesday's meeting holding signs that said "Save our Plaza."

They say the proposed seven-story building is too big for the location on Kansas City's Country Club Plaza.

When it was announced last year, the project was a major win for Highwoods as it comes at a time when relatively few companies are constructing new buildings.

Read the Kansas City Star's full article on Tuesday's vote here.

Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus have upgraded Highwoods Properties less than two months after downgrading the Raleigh real estate investment trust.

In a new report, Stifel Nicolaus says it is upgrading Highwoods from sell to hold because of expectations that job growth in the REITs Southeast markets will recover sooner than elsewhere.

Stifel also says Highwoods is well positioned to take advantage of the limited acquisition and development opportunities available in its markets.

On Dec. 21, Stifel downgraded Highwoods to sell citing concerns about the high cost of gaining occupancy in the current environment and the possibility that rent growth will be slow in Highwoods' core markets.

"The non-gateway city office markets are over 20 percent vacant and rent growth typically does not occur until a submarket is below 10 percent vacant," the December report said.
 
In its new report, Stifel says Highwoods future occupancy gains won't be as costly as for other suburban office REITs with lower occupancy levels.
 

AT&T will vacate 221,000 square feet of space in a Highwoods Properties building in Atlanta early next year.

Raleigh-based Highwoods announced the move during its conference call with analysts this morning.

AT&T is consolidating its footprint into company-owned space.
 

Highwoods Properties reported fourth-quarter results late today that beat Wall Street expectations.

The Raleigh real-estate investment trust's 35 million-square-foot portfolio was 90.3 percent occupied at the end of December, up from 88.8 percent during the same period a year ago.

Excluding certain one-time charges, Highwoods reported funds from operations, a profitability measure for REITs, of 63 cents per share, compared with 60 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2009.

For the year, Highwoods reported FFO of $2.46 per share. That above the consensus of Wall Street analysts of $2.44 per share.

Sensus, a Raleigh company that sells smart grid technology, utility meters, software and services, has taken an additional 12,300 square feet of space at Highwoods Properties' Forum office complex.

It's the third time the smart grid company has expanded in the last two years.

The latest addition brings Sensus' leased space to 52,000 square feet at Forum I on Six Forks Road in North Raleigh.

Sensus has 4,000 employees worldwide, more than 200 of which work out of its offices in Raleigh and an engineering office in Morrisville.
 

Highwoods Properties is expanding its footprint in Florida.

The Raleigh-based real-estate investment trust announced today that it has bought a vacant, 117,000 square-foot office building and a 33-acre development site located near Tampa's airport for about $17.6 million.

The site, in the Westshore submarket, includes room for up to 524,000 square feet of future office space.

Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Highwoods Properties from hold to sell in a new report.

The report cites several concerns for the Raleigh real estate investment trust, including the high cost of gaining occupancy in the current environment and the possibly that rent growth will be slow in Highwoods' markets.

"The non-gateway city office markets are over 20 percent vacant and rent growth typically does not occur until a submarket is below 10 percent vacant," the report says.

Stifel analysts expect companies to be able to increase occupancy in their portfolio by one to two percent a year.

"So to get to 94 percent will be often be a four plus year effort," the report said.

Highwoods 35 million-square-foot portfolio was 88.9 percent occupied at the end of September, up from 87.8 percent during the same period a year ago.

Stifel analysts didn't adjust their estimates for Highwoods funds from operations, a profitability measure for REITs,

Of the 12 analysts who cover Highwoods, Stifel is the only one with a sell rating on the stock.