Colonial Properties Trust (NYSE: CLP), today announced that it has sold its remaining 10 percent ownership interest in the Bluerock office portfolio (the "Bluerock Portfolio"). The Bluerock Portfolio consists of nine office assets located in Huntsville, Alabama, comprising 1.7 million square feet of leasable space.

Pursuant to the Bluerock Portfolio transaction, effective December 31, 2012, the company received $2.0 million in cash and the company no longer has responsibility for $10.7 million of associated mortgage debt and $7.9 million of other liabilities, primarily related to a ground lease, which represents the company's pro-rata share. The company expects to transition management and leasing responsibilities to a third party, Colliers International, over the next 30 days.

Colonial Properties Trust is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that creates value for its shareholders through a multifamily focused portfolio and the management and development of select commercial assets in the Sunbelt region of the United States. As of September 30, 2012, the company owned or managed 35,067 apartment units and 4.6 million square feet of commercial space. Headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, Colonial Properties is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CLP and is included in the S&P SmallCap 600 Index. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.colonialprop.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Estimates of future earnings are, by definition, and certain other statements in this press release, including statements regarding future dispositions and developments, development costs, credit ratings, operating performance outlook and other business fundamentals, may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the company's actual results, performance, achievements or transactions to be materially different from the results, performance, achievements or transactions expressed or implied by the forward looking statements. Factors that impact such forward looking statements include, among others, changes in national, regional and local economic conditions, which may be negatively impacted by concerns about inflation, deflation, government deficits (including the European sovereign debt crisis), high unemployment rates, decreased consumer confidence and liquidity concerns, particularly in markets in which we have a high concentration of properties; exposure, as a multifamily focused REIT, to risks inherent in investments in a single industry; ability to obtain financing on favorable rates, if at all; performance of affiliates or companies in which we have made investments; changes in operating costs; higher than expected construction costs; uncertainties associated with the timing and amount of real estate disposition and the resulting gains/losses associated with such dispositions; legislative or regulatory decisions; the company's ability to continue to maintain our status as a REIT for federal income tax purposes; price volatility, dislocations and liquidity disruptions in the financial markets and the resulting impact on availability of financing; the effect of any rating agency action on the cost and availability of new debt financings; level and volatility of interest rates or capital market conditions; effect of any terrorist activity or other heightened geopolitical crisis; or other factors affecting the real estate industry generally.

Except as otherwise required by the federal securities laws, the company assumes no responsibility to update the information in this press release.

The company refers you to the documents filed by the company from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the section titled "Risk Factors" in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011, as may be updated or supplemented in the company's Form 10-Q filings, which discuss these and other factors that could adversely affect the company's results.

Colonial Properties Trust
Jerry A. Brewer, 1-800-645-3917
Executive Vice President, Finance