Announces promotions within organization

ATLANTA - June 27, 2012 - C. Brent Smith will be joining Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) as Senior Vice President, Strategic Investments, effective July 9, 2012.  He will relocate to Piedmont's headquarters in Atlanta and will report to Raymond L. Owens, Executive Vice President, Capital Markets for Piedmont.

In this role, Mr. Smith will contribute strategic insight for Capital Markets activities, including all property acquisitions, dispositions and financings for the public REIT's approximately 21 million square foot, Class A office portfolio.  He will work closely with Mr. Owens and other members of the company's capital markets and asset management groups to ensure the execution and communication of Piedmont's strategic plan.

"Having worked with Brent for several years, I am pleased to welcome him to the Piedmont team and feel confident that his knowledge of real estate capital markets and significant transaction expertise will prove beneficial to the company as we focus on strengthening our position in the top 10 US office markets," said Piedmont President and Chief Executive Officer Donald A Miller, CFA.

Mr. Smith said, "I'm excited to join such a strong team of real estate professionals and a company as highly respected as Piedmont.   I look forward to utilizing my capital markets experience to continue to develop and execute the company's strategic plan for the benefit of Piedmont and its stockholders."

Prior to joining Piedmont, Mr. Smith served as Executive Director with Morgan Stanley in the Real Estate Investment Banking division, advising a wide range of public and private real estate clients on over $80 billion of transactions and financings.  He brings over eleven years of client advisement experience including seven years as an investment banking professional in North America and Asia.  Mr. Smith received an MBA from Columbia Business School with a concentration in Real Estate Finance and a Bachelor Degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering with high honor distinction from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Additionally, Piedmont announced the following recent promotions within the organization:

·         George Wells, Senior Vice President was promoted to Head of Asset Management and will oversee all Asset Management functions and leasing activity nationally.  He will continue to report to C.A. "Bo" Reddic, IV, Executive Vice-President of Real Estate Operations

·         Ken Mulrane was promoted to Senior Vice President, Asset Management.  He will be responsible for all leasing and asset management for the portfolio's Washington DC, New Jersey and Minneapolis regions.  He will continue to report to Mr. Wells.

About Piedmont:  Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) is a fully-integrated and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in high-quality, Class A office properties located primarily in the ten largest U.S. office markets, including Chicago, Washington, D.C., New York, Dallas, Los Angeles and Boston.  As of March 31, 2012, Piedmont's 75 wholly-owned office buildings were comprised of approximately 21 million rentable square feet. The Company is headquartered in Atlanta, GA with local management offices in each of its major markets. Investment-grade rated by Standard & Poor's and Moody's, Piedmont has maintained a low-leverage strategy while transacting $5.9 billion and $1.7 billion in property acquisitions and dispositions, respectively, during its fourteen year operating history.  For more information, see www.piedmontreit.com.

Contact:               Kerry Hughes

Company:           Piedmont Office Realty Trust

Phone:                 + 1 770 418 8678

Email:                  Kerry.Hughes@Piedmontreit.com