Consolidated Statements of Income (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Revenues:
Rental income	$ 425,232	$ 412,093	$ 401,163
Tenant reimbursements	107,833	115,082	114,039
Property management fee revenue	2,318	1,584	3,212
Other rental income	999	4,734	5,033
Total revenues	536,382	533,493	523,447
Expenses:
Property operating costs	212,932	207,199	195,368
Depreciation	112,801	102,804	95,267
Amortization	50,105	54,485	37,513
General and administrative	20,766	25,074	28,129
Operating Expenses	396,604	389,562	356,277
Real estate operating income	139,778	143,931	167,170
Other income (expense):
Interest expense	(65,023)	(65,817)	(66,486)
Interest and other income	833	2,774	3,486
Litigation settlement expense	(7,500)	0	0
Net casualty loss	(5,170)	0	0
Equity in income of unconsolidated joint ventures	923	1,619	2,633
Gain on consolidation of variable interest entity	0	1,532	0
Gain on extinguishment of debt	0	1,039	0
Nonoperating Income (Expense)	(75,937)	(58,853)	(60,367)
Income from continuing operations	63,841	85,078	106,803
Discontinued operations:
Operating income, excluding impairment loss	1,801	17,321	23,995
Impairment loss	0	0	(9,587)
Gain/(loss) on sale of real estate assets	27,577	122,657	(817)
Income from discontinued operations	29,378	139,978	13,591
Net income	93,219	225,056	120,394
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	(15)	(15)	(15)
Net income attributable to Piedmont	$ 93,204	$ 225,041	$ 120,379
Per share information – basic:
Income from continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.38	$ 0.49	$ 0.63
Income from discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.17	$ 0.81	$ 0.08
Income attributable to noncontrolling interest (in dollars per share)	$ 0.00	$ 0.00	$ 0.00
Net income available to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 0.55	$ 1.30	$ 0.71
Per share information – diluted:
Income from continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.38	$ 0.49	$ 0.62
Income from discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.17	$ 0.81	$ 0.08
Income attributable to noncontrolling interest (in dollars per share)	$ 0.00	$ 0.00	$ 0.00
Net income available to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 0.55	$ 1.30	$ 0.70
Weighted-average common shares outstanding - basic (in shares)	170,312,328	172,764,838	170,752,520
Weighted-average common shares outstanding - diluted (in shares)	170,441,223	172,980,947	170,967,324