High-End REIT in Lowdown Brawl

Post Properties has always been more than a quiet, boring real estate investment trust.

After all, the company's upscale branding strategy relies on being noticed and recognized. But these days, Post is scoring a pile of extra attention via a nasty civil war. Post and the ambitious man who founded it are firing loud shots at one another as they head toward a battle for control at Thursday's annual meeting.

Post's current leadership, recently endorsed by the nation's largest proxy advisory firm, is viewed as the heavy favorite. But company founder John Williams -- new to the underdog role -- has already shown that he can fight like a pit bull. He's clamped down on Post's management and, some believe, won't rest until he regains his grip on the fancy apartment empire he started more than three decades ago. ...