Piedmont Office Realty Trust was incorporated as Wells Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. in Maryland on July 3, 1997 and commenced active operations on June 5, 1998. Piedmont Office Realty Trust went on to successfully raise approximately $5.2 billion in gross offering proceeds as a public nontraded REIT. These proceeds were used as equity capital to build the portfolio that exists today.

Since its formation in 1997, Piedmont Office Realty Trust has been governed by standard SEC rules and regulations.

The following is a timeline of key events in Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s history.

1997 Incorporated on July 3, 1997.

1998 Operations commenced on June 5, 1998.

2003 Closed to new investors in late 2003.

2005 Portfolio of 27 properties sold in April 2005 in one of the largest transactions in nontraded REIT history.

2007 Piedmont Office Realty Trust internalizes real estate management and advisory functions in April 2007.

In April 2005, Piedmont Office Realty Trust sold its interests in a portfolio of 27 properties for net proceeds of approximately $756.3 million, realizing a gain of approximately $189.5 million. The sale repositioned the portfolio geographically to focus on core markets, improved its credit profile, and enhanced the overall quality of the portfolio, all while allowing Piedmont Office Realty Trust to share proceeds with stockholders by distributing approximately $748.5 million as a special dividend. And these accomplishments were achieved without negatively impacting our overall targeted return on equity for the broader portfolio.

Twelve additional properties have also subsequently been sold in single-property transactions with a net realizable gain of approximately $61.9 million, which served many of the same objectives as our portfolio sale.

On April 16, 2007, Piedmont Office Realty Trust acquired and “internalized” entities affiliated with its former advisor for an aggregate of 19,546,302 shares of common stock.