Crosland to Seek New Zoning on 12 Acres at Wade Avenue and Oberlin Road, May 30,2002

Raleigh, N.C., May 27, 2002 - Crosland, one of the Southeast’s leading, diversified, privately-held real estate companies, announced today it will petition the city’s planning commission to waive a two-year waiting period for new zoning of the 12 acres of land near Cameron Village. Crosland is seeking the waiver today at 9:00 a.m. during the Planning Commission meeting in the City Hall Building.

Crosland has entered into an agreement with the landowner Neal Coker. The tract of land located between Wade Avenue and Oberlin Road has been proposed as the site for a $60 million mixed-use project that will be developed and managed by Crosland. TradeMark Properties will manage the renovation of the empty Occidental Building.

The Crosland project is envisioned to include 450 residential units (expected to be among the most luxurious in the Triangle), as well as 30,000 square feet of retail shops. The retail component of this project will be quaint and complement the residential units located above the shops as well as the surrounding neighborhoods. The design is similar to Birkdale Village, an innovative, 52-acre, mixed-use urban village being developed by Crosland in Huntersville, N.C., 20 miles northwest of Charlotte. For additional information on Birkdale Village visit www.birkdalevillage.net.

“Today, we take the first step in a long journey to see this development to fruition,” states David Ravin, vice president of residential and mixed-use operations for Crosland’s Raleigh office (David is also development manager of Birkdale Village). “Crosland has a respected and successful history of developing mixed-use projects, and believes the Triangle will realize significant benefits from ventures such as this one.”

“As Raleigh continues to expand, we believe there will be more demand for mixed-use infill villages such as these,” Ravin adds. “They are complicated, expensive projects that cannot be proposed just anywhere. We feel this development can be a significant building block in Raleigh’s ongoing growth initiatives.”

As is customary in Crosland’s development processes, company representatives have sought the involvement of area neighborhood associations to ensure members’ desires are heard and considered into the master plan. “We meet with local neighborhoods prior to submitting a zoning request as company policy. Our commitment to Raleigh is long term; therefore we are not interested in alienating neighborhood interests for a single project. It is our goal to have both City officials and neighborhoods welcome our involvement in a particular project because of our history of executing top quality projects everyone can be proud being a part of,” concludes Ravin.

Crosland has a long history in the Triangle and Eastern North Carolina, having developed a variety of single and multifamily homes throughout the region. Over the years, the company has used its homebuilding, apartment and retail development success as a platform to expand into a variety of other real estate activities. Today, Crosland is a regional leader in mixed use, multifamily and commercial ventures.

Headquartered in Charlotte, the company employs 250 associates. Since 1999, it has operated a Raleigh office at 4000 WestChase Boulevard. Recent projects include Wakefield Glen Apartments in North Raleigh and The Apartments at Meadowmont in Chapel Hill.

For more information :
Lauren G. Price, Corder Philips & Wilson 704/378-2106, lprice@cpwadv.com