ATLANTA - January 15, 2014 - Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE: PDM) announced today that it completed approximately 3.5 million square feet of total leasing transactions in 2013, and reported that approximately 732,000 square feet was executed in the fourth quarter.

Significant leasing highlights of transactions greater than 20,000 square feet for the quarter included:

Los Angeles, CA  -  Nestlé USA extended its 401,000 square foot lease through 2021 at 800 North Brand Boulevard in Glendale, CA.  

Boston, MA   - Qualcomm, Inc. completed a lease renewal and expansion comprised of 48,000 square feet through 2020 at 90 Central Street in Boxborough, MA.

Boston, MA - Nuance Communications, Inc., signed a 46,000 square foot, 4+year lease expansion through 2018 at 15 Wayside Road in Burlington, MA.

Los Angeles, CA  -  Front Porch Communities  completed a 26,000 square foot, 10-year new lease through 2024 at 800 North Brand Boulevard in Glendale, CA.  

Orlando, FL - Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC signed a 21,000 square foot, 4+year new lease through 2017 at 400 TownPark in Lake Mary, FL.

Chicago, IL - Mitsubishi Engine North America, Inc. completed a 20,000 square foot 10+ year new lease through 2025 at Two Pierce Place in Itasca, IL.  

"Considering the challenges that continued to linger in the office sector throughout 2013, we are pleased by the solid leasing completed in the fourth quarter, which allowed us to accomplish 3.5 million square feet in total leasing transactions for 2013," said C.A. "Bo" Reddic, IV, Executive Vice-President of Real Estate Operations for Piedmont. 
"Looking to the year ahead, we are encouraged by some recent signs of economic recovery, and are hopeful that continued recovery will lead to further net absorption in Piedmont's operating markets," added Reddic.

Additionally, Piedmont completed the following capital markets transactions in the fourth quarter:

Dallas, TX - Piedmont completed the acquisition of three (3) Class-A office properties in the Greater Dallas market:

• Las Colinas - 6565 MacArthur Boulevard in Irving, Texas. Constructed in 1998, the 10-story, 260,000 square-foot office building sits on a 10.3 acre site and is located in close proximity to Piedmont's other assets in that submarket.  The property is 93% leased. 

• Las Colinas - 161 Corporate Center, located at 6225 North State Highway 161 in Irving, TX.  Also constructed in 1998, the 4-story, 105,000 square foot office building is situated adjacent to two other Piedmont-owned properties - Las Colinas Corporate Center I & II and contiguous to its Las Colinas Corporate Center Phase III development parcel. The property is 91% leased. 

• Greater Preston Center - One Lincoln Park, located at 8401 North Central Expressway in Dallas, TX.  Constructed in 1999, the 262,000 square foot, 10-story building with attached 6-level parking structure resides on a 3.08 acre land parcel adjacent to Lincoln Park Shopping Center and NorthPark Center. The property is 79% leased. 

Piedmont also completed the sale of the following two (2) non-core assets:

• Denver, CO - 350 Spectrum Loop, Colorado Springs, CO.  Constructed in 2001, the156,000 square foot office building is 100% leased to FedEx Corporate Services, Inc.  Cole Capital Partners, LLC purchased the office building for $30.1 million, or $193 per square foot.  

• Phoenix, AZ - 8700 South Price Road, Tempe, AZ.  Constructed in 2000, the 132,000 square foot office building is 100% leased to Avnet, Inc.  W.P. Carey, Inc. (via CPA 17 - Global, one of its publicly-held non-traded REIT affiliates) purchased the office building for $21.5 million, or $163 per square foot.  

"We are very pleased with our fourth quarter capital markets success, as demonstrated by the completion of these five transactions," said Raymond L. Owens, Executive Vice-President, Capital Markets for Piedmont. "By opportunistically exiting two non-core properties and recycling capital into these three high quality assets, Piedmont continues to advance our strategy of aggregating assets in select submarkets which exhibit strong leasing momentum and provide valuation upside due to acquiring them at a substantial discount to replacement cost," Owens concluded

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, Boston, Los Angeles and Dallas.  As of December 31, 2013, Piedmont's 78 wholly-owned office buildings were comprised of over 21 million rentable square feet. The Company is headquartered in Atlanta, GA, with local management offices in each of its major markets. Piedmont is investment-grade rated by Standard & Poor's and Moody's and has maintained a low-leverage strategy while acquiring and disposing of properties throughout its fifteen 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