Highwoods Properties announced Wednesday that has acquired two office buildings in Tampa, Fla. for $56 million.

The buildings, Colonial Place I and II, are 86.8 percent leased. They include a total of 372,000 square feet in the Westshore area of Tampa. The buildings are adjacent to a 220,000-square-foot office building that Highwoods acquired in 2009.

Highwoods now owns 16 office buildings with 2.4 million square feet of space in the Westshore area.

The deal is the latest in a string of acquisitions for Raleigh-based Highwoods. The real estate investment trust acquired $296 million in assets last year, including high-profile buildings in Atlanta and downtown Pittsburgh.

Highwoods expects the Colonial acquisitions to generate $4.6 million in cash and $4.9 million in net operating income for the full year.

Highwoods shares closed Wednesday at $36.14, up 43 cents. The stock is up 8 percent this year.

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.