CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Cogdell Spencer Inc. (NYSE: CSA) announced the tax characteristics of its 2010 dividends to assist those required to distribute Form 1099s on the Company's dividend. This release is based on an estimate of "earnings and profits" as defined by the Internal Revenue Service. No material change in these classifications is expected.

During 2010, the Company paid four quarterly dividends of $0.10 per share totaling $0.40 per share for the year. The dividends of $0.40 per share are classified for income tax purposes as 82.5% taxable ordinary dividend and 17.5% return of capital. Shareholders generally benefit from the return of capital by deferring income taxes on that portion of the distribution until a share is sold or otherwise transferred. No portion of the dividends constitutes "qualified dividends" eligible for the reduced rates on dividends pursuant to the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. The Company urges its stockholders to consult with their own tax advisors with respect to the federal, state and local income tax consequences of these dividends.

About Cogdell Spencer Inc.

Charlotte-based Cogdell Spencer Inc. (NYSE: CSA) is a fully-integrated, self-administered, and self-managed real estate investment trust ("REIT") that invests in specialty office buildings for the medical profession, including medical offices and ambulatory surgery and diagnostic centers. The Company focuses on the ownership, development, redevelopment, acquisition, and management of strategically located medical office buildings and other healthcare related facilities in the United States of America. The Company has been built around understanding and addressing the full range of specialized real estate needs of the healthcare industry. Learn more about Cogdell Spencer Inc. and its subsidiaries at www.cogdell.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements reflect the Company's views about future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and changes in circumstances that may cause actual results to differ materially. Factors that may contribute to these differences include, but are not limited to the following: our business strategy; our ability to comply with financial covenants in our debt instruments; our access to capital; our ability to obtain future financing arrangements, including refinancing existing arrangements; estimates relating to our future distributions; our understanding of our competition; our ability to renew our ground leases; legislative and regulatory changes (including changes to laws governing the taxation of REITs and individuals); increases in costs of borrowing as a result of changes in interest rates and other factors; our ability to maintain our qualification as a REIT due to economic, market, legal, tax or other considerations; changes in the reimbursement available to our tenants by government or private payors; our tenants' ability to make rent payments; defaults by tenants and customers; customers' access to financing; delays in project starts and cancellations by customers; our ability to convert design-build project opportunities into new engagements for us; market trends; and projected capital expenditures.

For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see the reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009 and the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2010. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be realized. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Cogdell Spencer Inc.