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Cousins Properties Incorporated 2006 Annual Report - SNL Financial

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COUSINS PROPERTIES INCORPORATED AND SUBSIDIARIES<br />

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS<br />

1. ORGANIZATION AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION<br />

Organization: <strong>Cousins</strong> <strong>Properties</strong> <strong>Incorporated</strong> (“<strong>Cousins</strong>”), a Georgia corporation, is a self-administered<br />

and self-managed real estate investment trust (“REIT”). <strong>Cousins</strong> Real Estate Corporation and its subsidiaries<br />

(“CREC”) is a taxable entity wholly-owned by and consolidated with <strong>Cousins</strong>. CREC owns, develops, and manages<br />

its own real estate portfolio and performs certain real estate related services for other parties.<br />

Description of Business: <strong>Cousins</strong>, CREC and their subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”) actively invest<br />

in office, multi-family, retail, industrial and land development projects. As of December 31, <strong>2006</strong>, the Company’s<br />

portfolio consisted of interests in 7.2 million square feet of office space, 4.2 million square feet of retail space,<br />

2.0 million square feet of industrial space, a 529-unit for-sale multi-family project under development, interests in<br />

24 residential communities under development, over 9,000 acres of strategically located land tracts held for<br />

investment or future development, and significant land holdings for development of single-family residential<br />

communities. The Company also provides leasing and management services to third-party investors; its clientservices<br />

portfolio comprises 14.8 million square feet of office and retail space.<br />

Basis of Presentation: The Consolidated <strong>Financial</strong> Statements include the accounts of <strong>Cousins</strong>, its consolidated<br />

partnerships and wholly owned subsidiaries and CREC and its consolidated subsidiaries.<br />

The Company evaluates all partnership interests or other variable interests to determine if the venture is a<br />

variable interest entity (“VIE”), as defined in <strong>Financial</strong> Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Interpretation<br />

No. 46R. If a venture is a VIE and the Company is determined to be the primary beneficiary, the Company<br />

consolidates the assets, liabilities and results of operations of the VIE.<br />

In December <strong>2006</strong>, the Company formed a joint venture with Callaway Gardens Resorts, Inc. for the<br />

development of residential lots within the Callaway Gardens Resort. The joint venture is considered a VIE, and the<br />

Company was determined to be the primary beneficiary. As of December 31, <strong>2006</strong>, the VIE has total assets of<br />

$1.6 million, which are consolidated in the Consolidated Balance Sheet at December 31, <strong>2006</strong>.<br />

Additionally, the Company holds a 50% ownership interest in Charlotte Gateway Village, LLC (“Gateway”), a<br />

VIE which owns and operates an office building complex in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Company determined it<br />

is not the primary beneficiary. The Company’s investment in Gateway was $10.5 million at December 31, <strong>2006</strong>,<br />

which is its maximum exposure. See Note 6 for further discussion of Gateway.<br />

For entities that are not considered VIEs, the Company uses Statement of <strong>Financial</strong> Accounting Standards<br />

(“SFAS”) No. 94, “Consolidation of All Majority-Owned Subsidiaries,” Accounting Research Bulletin (“ARB”)<br />

No. 51, “Consolidated <strong>Financial</strong> Statements,” and Emerging Issues Task Force (“EITF”) No. 04-5, “Determining<br />

Whether a General Partner, or the General Partners as a Group, Controls a Limited Partnership or Similar Entity<br />

When the Limited Partners Have Certain Rights” to determine the appropriate consolidation and presentation. A<br />

description of the Company’s investments accounted for under the equity method is included in Note 6.<br />

The Company recognizes Minority Interest on its Consolidated Balance Sheets for non-wholly owned entities<br />

that the Company consolidates. The minority partner’s share of current operations is reflected in Minority Interest in<br />

Income of Consolidated Subsidiaries on the Consolidated Statements of Income.<br />

2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES<br />

Long-Lived Assets<br />

Cost Capitalization: Costs related to planning, developing, leasing and constructing a property are capitalized<br />

and classified with <strong>Properties</strong> in the Consolidated Balance Sheets, in accordance with SFAS No. 67,<br />

“Accounting for Costs and Initial Rental Operations of Real Estate Projects.” Costs for development personnel who<br />

work directly on projects under construction are capitalized during the construction period. An estimate of time is<br />

obtained directly from such personnel and the Company applies a percentage of their actual salaries plus an estimate<br />

F-7

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