n e w s

July 26 , 2006
For more information, contact Colonial Properties Trust:
Bo Jackson, 678.461.3303, Executive Vice President, Office Division or
Barbara M. Pooley, 800.645.3917, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations

Colonial Properties Trust Signs BayCare Health System to Colonial Center Bayside Lease

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 26, 2006--Colonial Properties Trust (NYSE:CLP), a real estate investment trust that owns a portfolio of multifamily, office and retail properties, signed BayCare Health System to a 10-year lease for 47,200 square feet in Colonial Center Bayside in Clearwater, Florida. Colonial Properties purchased Bayside in April 2005 when the property, located in the Mangrove Bay Office Center on US Highway 19, was at 50 percent occupancy. Bayside's occupancy rate has grown to 92 percent.

"This is an excellent example of our opportunistic buying strategy paying-off," said Dallas Whitaker, senior vice president, Colonial Properties Trust. "We purchased these buildings in the spring of 2005, when they were 50 percent occupied. This nearly 50,000 square foot, long-term lease raises occupancy to 92 percent in just over one year."

BayCare Health System is a family of health care providers consisting of the nine leading not-for-profit hospitals in the Tampa Bay region.

Colonial Properties Trust, through its subsidiaries, owns a portfolio of multifamily, office and retail properties where you live, work and shop in the Sunbelt. Colonial Properties Trust performs development, acquisition, management, leasing and brokerage services for its portfolio and properties owned by third parties. The company has a total market capitalization of approximately $5.5 billion. As of March 31, the company owns or manages 43,937 apartment units, 20.3 million square feet of office space and 11.6 million square feet of retail shopping space. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., 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, visit www.colonialprop.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Certain statements in this press release 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, real estate conditions and markets; performance of affiliates or companies in which we have made investments; changes in operating costs; legislative or regulatory decisions; our ability to continue to maintain our status as a REIT for federal income tax purposes; the effect of any rating agency action; 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, 2005, which discuss these and other factors that could adversely affect the company's results.