JLL awarded leasing and management of Highwoods' Pittsburgh portfolio

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 15, 2022 – JLL announced today it has been awarded the leasing, management, and project management of Highwoods Properties Inc.’s Pittsburgh-based portfolio, comprised of more than 2 million square feet of Trophy-class CBD office space and a key development site in the tech-heavy East End. The scope also includes acquiring Highwoods’ Pittsburgh employees to become full-time JLL employees across a variety of business lines. The transition is expected to take place this month.

Highwoods’ local portfolio is made up of the following assets:

• PPG Place, totaling 1.5 million square feet of office space and 70,000 square feet of retail space across six buildings

• EQT Plaza, consisting of 620,000 square feet of office space and 19,000 square feet of retail space

• A development site located on Penn Avenue in East Liberty that can support 60,000 square foot of office space and ground-floor retail

“JLL’s depth in Pittsburgh and integrated service delivery, paired with their collaborative and winning culture, were key differentiators for us as we looked for the best fit for our team and properties. It is the ideal company for our current employees to perform and grow their careers. We look forward to working closely together these next few weeks to ensure a smooth and timely transition,” said Andrew Wisniewski, senior vice president and Pittsburgh market leader at Highwoods.

As part of the transition, Highwoods employees will join JLL across several business and service lines, including Brokerage, Property Management, Project & Development Services (PDS), accounting, and more.

“We’re thrilled to welcome the Highwoods team into JLL and are excited to work together toward a shared vision of offering best-in-class real estate services to our clients,” said JLL Market Director JC Pelusi. “We’re honored that Highwoods has entrusted us with not only the careers of their current staff, but also the leasing and management of their Pittsburgh portfolio. This is a great endorsement of the continued growth and capabilities of our team.”

Along with the leasing and property management of the portfolio, JLL will also partner locally with Eastdil on the marketing of PPG Place for sale. Among the employees joining JLL includes Tripp Merchant, director of leasing at Highwoods. Merchant will join JLL’s Agency Leasing team as Senior Vice President. Andrew Wisniewski will join JLL as an Executive Vice President.

“Our team’s growth strategy includes bringing in top talent and expanding our leasing portfolio with strategic assets that fully leverage JLL’s integrated platform, so we’re ecstatic to have been awarded this opportunity,” said JLL Managing Director Jason Stewart. “Tripp is an established and proven leader in the Pittsburgh area, and I’m excited to have him to complement our existing experts and advise our clients in their real estate decisions moving forward.”

JLL’s Pittsburgh office currently consists of more than 430 local employees, offering commercial real estate services like Brokerage, Capital Markets, Lease Administration, PDS, Sustainability, and more.