Highwoods Properties, Inc. has announced that Edward J. Fritsch, 60, will retire as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Company’s Board of Directors effective September 1, 2019. Theodore J. Klinck, 53, who currently serves as President and Chief Operating Officer, will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer and director upon Mr. Fritsch’s retirement. Mr. Klinck has served as President since November 2018 and Chief Operating Officer since September 2015. Prior to that, Mr. Klinck served as the Company’s Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer. Before joining Highwoods in March 2012, Mr. Klinck served as principal and chief investment officer with Goddard Investment Group, a privately owned real estate investment firm. Previously, Mr. Klinck had been a managing director at Morgan Stanley Real Estate.

Effective with these changes, the Company also announced that Brendan C. Maiorana, 43, has been promoted to Executive Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations and Brian M. Leary, 45, will join the Company as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

Mr. Maiorana joined Highwoods in May 2016 as Senior Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations. He will continue to report directly to Mark F. Mulhern, 59, the Company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Highwoods, Mr. Maiorana spent 11 years in Equity Research at Wells Fargo Securities, starting as an Associate Equity Research Analyst. Prior to that, he worked four years at Ernst & Young LLP as a senior auditor. He is a graduate of Rutgers University with a BS in accounting and has an MBA from the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Mr. Leary will join Highwoods on July 15, 2019 as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, reporting directly to Mr. Klinck. He joined Crescent Communities as president of its commercial and mixed-use business unit in 2014. Prior to joining Crescent, Leary held senior management positions with Jacoby Development, Inc., Atlanta Beltline, Inc., AIG Global Real Estate, Atlantic Station, LLC and Central Atlanta Progress. Mr. Leary is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture with a BS in architecture with minor concentrations in land development and real estate. He also holds a master\’s degree in City Planning from Georgia Tech.

About HIGHWOODS PROPERTIES, INC. (NYSE:HIW)

Highwoods Properties, Inc. is a real estate investment trust. The Company provides leasing, management, development, construction and other customer-related services for its properties and for third-parties. The Company is engaged in the business of operation, acquisition and development of real estate properties. The Company conducts its activities through Highwoods Realty Limited Partnership. The Company provides real estate services to its customers. The Company’s portfolio consists of office properties in Raleigh, Atlanta, Tampa, Nashville, Memphis, Pittsburgh, Richmond and Orlando, office and industrial properties in Greensboro and retail and office properties in Kansas City. The Company operates office, industrial, retail and residential properties. The Company holds interest in approximately 30 million rentable square feet of in-service properties, over 1.5 million rentable square feet of properties under development and approximately 500 acres of development land.