RALEIGH, NC--(Marketwired - Jan 28, 2015) - Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE: HIW) today announced that Carlos E. Evans (63) has been elected to join the Company's board of directors effective January 28, 2015.

O. Temple Sloan, Jr., Chairman of the Board of Highwoods Properties, said, "With extensive experience in the financial services industry, Carlos has weathered numerous business and economic cycles and his seasoned skillset will serve Highwoods well. We look forward to the contributions Carlos will make to the Company's growth and long-term shareholder value."

Evans retired from Wells Fargo Bank in May 2014, where he served as executive vice president and group head of the eastern division of Wells Fargo commercial banking. Evans was also responsible for the bank's government & institutional banking group and he served on Wells Fargo's management committee.

Evans joined First Union National Bank in 2000 as the wholesale banking executive for the commercial segment prior to its merger with Wachovia Corporation in 2001. From 2006 until Wachovia's merger with Wells Fargo in 2009, Evans was the wholesale banking executive and an executive vice president for the Wachovia general banking group, overseeing the commercial, business and community banking segments, the dealer financial services business and the government, tax exempt, and not-for-profit healthcare groups.

Before joining First Union, Evans served in a variety of roles at Bank of America and its predecessors including NationsBank, North Carolina National Bank and Bankers Trust of South Carolina, which he joined in 1973. 

Evans received his B.A. in economics from Newberry College. He is also a graduate of the Commercial Lending School in Oklahoma and the Colgate Darden Commercial Lending School at the University of Virginia.

Evans is chairman emeritus of the board of the Spoleto Festival USA and chairman of the board of the Medical University of South Carolina Foundation. He is also on the board of Queens University.

About Highwoods Properties
 Highwoods Properties, headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, is a publicly traded (NYSE: HIW) real estate investment trust ("REIT") and a member of the S&P MidCap 400 Index. The Company is a fully-integrated office REIT that owns, develops, acquires, leases and manages properties primarily in the best business districts (BBDs) of Atlanta, Greensboro, Kansas City, Memphis, Nashville, Orlando, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Richmond and Tampa. For more information about Highwoods Properties, please visit our website at www.highwoods.com.