DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

Description of Business

Cousins Properties Incorporated (“Cousins”), a Georgia corporation, is a publicly traded (NYSE: CUZ), self-administered, and self-managed real estate investment trust (“REIT”). Cousins conducts substantially all of its operations through Cousins Properties LP ("CPLP"). Cousins owns approximately 98% of CPLP and consolidates CPLP. Cousins TRS Services LLC ("CTRS"), which is wholly owned by CPLP, is a taxable entity which owns and manages its own real estate portfolio and performs certain real estate related services for other parties. Cousins, CPLP, CTRS, and their subsidiaries are hereinafter referred to collectively as "the Company."

The Company develops, acquires, leases, manages, and owns Class A office and mixed-use properties in Sunbelt markets with a focus on Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, Arizona, and Florida. Cousins has elected to be taxed as a REIT and intends to, among other things, distribute 100% of its net taxable income to stockholders, thereby eliminating any liability for federal income taxes under current law. Therefore, the results included herein do not include a federal income tax provision for Cousins.

Basis of Presentation

The condensed consolidated financial statements are unaudited and were prepared by the Company in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). In the opinion of management, these financial statements reflect all adjustments necessary (which adjustments are of a normal and recurring nature) for the fair presentation of the Company's financial position as of March 31, 2019 and the results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018. The results of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2019 are not necessarily indicative of results expected for the full year. Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP have been condensed or omitted pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC. These condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018. The accounting policies employed are substantially the same as those shown in note 2 to the consolidated financial statements included therein.

For the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, there were no items of other comprehensive income. Therefore, no presentation of comprehensive income is required. Additionally, certain subtotals within the condensed consolidated statements of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2018 were removed to conform to the current period presentation.

The Company evaluates all partnerships, joint ventures, and other arrangements with variable interests to determine if the entity or arrangement qualifies as a variable interest entity ("VIE"), as defined in the Financial Accounting Standard Board's ("FASB") Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC"). If the entity or arrangement qualifies as a VIE and the Company is determined to be the primary beneficiary, the Company is required to consolidate the assets, liabilities, and results of operations of the VIE.

In the first quarter of 2019, the Company transferred the right to acquire a building to a special purpose entity to facilitate a potential Section 1031 exchange under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the special purpose entity acquired the building. To realize the tax deferral available under Section 1031, the Company must complete the exchange and relinquish title to the to-be-exchanged building within 180 days of the purchase date. The Company has determined that this special purpose entity is a VIE, and the Company is the primary beneficiary. Therefore, the Company consolidates this entity. As of March 31, 2019, this VIE had total assets of $92.3 million, no significant liabilities, and no significant cash flows.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

On January 1, 2019, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") 2016-02, "Leases," ("ASC 842") which amended the previous standard for lease accounting by requiring lessees to record most leases on their balance sheets and making targeted changes to lessor accounting and reporting. The new standard requires lessees to record a right-of-use asset and a lease liability for leases and classify such leases as either finance or operating leases based on the principle of whether the lease is effectively a financed purchase of the leased asset by the lessee. The classification of the leases determines whether the lease expense is recognized based on an effective interest method (finance leases) or on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease (operating leases). The new standard also revised the treatment of indirect leasing costs and permits the capitalization and amortization of direct leasing costs only. For the three months ended March 31, 2018, the Company capitalized $1.2 million of indirect leasing costs.

The Company adopted the following optional practical expedients provided in ASC 842:

•no reassessment of any expired or existing contracts to determine if they contain a lease;

•no requirement to write-off any unamortized, previously capitalized, initial direct costs for existing leases;

•no recognition of right-of-use assets for leases with at term of one year or less;


•	no requirement to separately classify and disclose non-lease components of revenue in lease contracts from the related lease components provided certain conditions are met; and,


•	no requirement to reassess the classification of existing leases as finance leases versus operating leases.

For those leases where the Company is lessee, specifically ground leases, the adoption of ASC 842 required the Company to record a right-of-use asset and a lease liability on the consolidated balance sheet. The Company recorded right-of-use assets and lease liabilities in the amount of $56.3 million upon the adoption of ASC 842. In calculating the right of use asset and lease liability the Company used a weighted average discount rate of 4.49%, which represented the Company's incremental borrowing rate related to the ground lease assets as of January 1, 2019. Ground leases executed before the adoption of ASC 842 are accounted for as operating leases and did not result in a materially different ground lease expense. However, most ground leases executed after the adoption of ASC 842 are expected to be accounted for as finance leases, which will result in ground lease expense being recorded using the effective interest method instead of the straight-line method over the term of the lease, resulting in higher ground lease expense in the earlier years of a ground lease when compared to the straight line method. The Company used the "modified retrospective" method upon adoption of ASC 842, which permitted application of the new standard on the adoption date as opposed to the earliest comparative period presented in its financial statements. For additional disclosures, see note 4 "Leases."

On January 1, 2018, the Company adopted, ASU 2017-05, “Other Income - Gains and Losses from the Derecognition of Nonfinancial Assets (Subtopic 610-20): Clarifying the Scope of Asset Derecognition Guidance and Accounting for Partial Sales of Nonfinancial Assets” (“ASU 2017-05"). As a result of the adoption of ASU 2017-05, the Company recorded a cumulative effect from change in accounting principle, which credited distributions in excess of cumulative net income by $22.3 million. This cumulative effect adjustment resulted from the 2013 transfer of a wholly-owned property to an entity in which it had a noncontrolling interest.