ATLANTA and CHICAGO - July 16, 2015 - Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (the "Company" or "Piedmont") (NYSE:PDM) announced today that The Kraft Heinz Company has completed a 170,000 square foot, 12+ year new lease through 2029 at its trophy tower, Aon Center, located at 200 East Randolph Street in downtown Chicago.  After recently completing the merger of Kraft Foods Group and H.J. Heinz Company, the global food and beverage giant will relocate its Chicago headquarters from Northfield, IL, to five floors of the 83-story building.  The company will be co-headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA.

Ned Franke and Steve Holmberg of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant in the transaction. Steve Smith and Mark Georgas of JLL, along with Tom Prescott and Alex Valente of Piedmont, facilitated negotiations on behalf of the owner.

"We are pleased to be able to accommodate the new Chicago home of the recently combined Kraft Heinz brands, a multi-billion dollar corporation, and are confident they will benefit from the building's superior amenities and spectacular views of the city, Lake Michigan and Millennium Park," said Tom Prescott, Executive Vice President - Midwest Region for Piedmont.

"Consummating a lease with a prestigious company like The Kraft Heinz Company substantially completes Piedmont's long term strategy of transforming Aon Center into one of Chicago's most distinguished business addresses," said Piedmont President and Chief Executive Officer Donald A. Miller, CFA.  "We have been fortunate to recently attract many other well-known companies to Aon Center, such as KPMG, Microsoft, United Health Group, Integrys, and Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago to name a few.  Additionally, our strategy has been successful in renewing existing quality companies like AON, JLL, and Edelman," concluded Miller.

"The Kraft Heinz Company saw an immediate opportunity to firmly establish our dynamic new culture, based on meritocracy, speed, efficiency and collaboration at Aon Center, in a new downtown Chicago open office space to support our next chapter of growth while further strengthening our world-leading brands," said Michael Mullen, SVP, Corporate & Government Affairs for The Kraft Heinz Company.  "This move will return the Kraft brand and business to its entrepreneurial roots in Chicago where founder JL Kraft first began selling cheese to local merchants in 1903. The Kraft Heinz Company is proud of its rich history in the Chicago region and is committed to remaining there as our Chicago co-headquarters," added Mullen.

About Piedmont:
Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: PDM) is an owner, manager, developer and operator of high-quality, Class A office properties located in select sub-markets of major U.S. cities. Its geographically-diversified, approximately $6 billion portfolio is comprised of 21 million square feet. The Company is a fully-integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) with local management offices in each of its major markets.  It also ranks first for the greatest number of commercial office buildings having earned the prestigious BOMA 360 designation for operational best practices and tenant services from BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association) International.  The company is investment-grade rated by Standard & Poor's (BBB) and Moody's (Baa2).  For more information, see www.piedmontreit.com.

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Contact:                Kerry Hughes
Company:             Piedmont Office Realty Trust
Phone:                  1 770 418 8678
Email:                    Kerry.Hughes@Piedmontreit.com