PPG Industries has committed to renewing its lease in the signature One PPG Place when it expires in 2018. Highwoods Properties made reference to the renewal in its conference call April 29, letting the cat out of the bag on what had been whispered around town for a month or so. Avison Young handled the transaction for PPG.

The decision to take 350,000 square feet is a significant vote of confidence for the Pittsburgh region – and Downtown – from an employer that is growing its top and bottom line. It keeps the revitalization of Market Square on an upward arc as well. Coupled with Rice Energy’s decision to expand and take 150,000 square feet at Burns & Scalo’s third building at Zenith Ridge in Southpointe, the PPG announcement adds some upbeat news to the Pittsburgh office market, which had been buffeted a bit lately by the prospect of vacancy from USSteel’s downsizing and the Citizen’s Bank decision to sell the 525 William Penn Place building.

Chuck Bunch, PPG’s CEO, commented that the decision reflects the coatings manufacturer’s continued expansion in Pittsburgh. With the past year PPG has filled one of the vacated Westinghouse campus buildings in Cranberry and invested roughly $15 million to update research facilities in Harmar.