Stevens & Lee is trading up in downtown Pittsburgh, locking in a multi-year lease for a larger office at One PPG Place and doubling down on its bid to become a serious local player in Western Pennsylvania. The deal adds yet another law firm to a high-end stretch of office space that has been steadily luring attorneys back into the heart of the central business district.
Deal details and timing
According to the Pittsburgh Business Times, Stevens & Lee has inked a multi-year lease for new space at One PPG Place as it ramps up its Pittsburgh platform. The outlet notes the lease follows a round of local hiring and the addition of a shareholder to the Pittsburgh roster. Beyond confirming the multi-year structure, the reports do not spell out specific lease terms.
Stevens & Lee’s Pittsburgh push
Stevens & Lee first planted its flag in Pittsburgh in mid-2025 when it brought on Kevin Acklin as a shareholder, and the firm says it is now building out a larger office at One PPG Place with an eye on an early-2026 opening, according to the firm’s own announcement. The company also highlighted affiliates FSL Public Finance and GSL Public Strategies launching operations in the same building as part of the broader local push. In its Stevens & Lee announcement, the firm cast the move as a deliberate step in serving clients across Pennsylvania more fully.
PPG Place’s flight-to-quality pull
Property broker JLL describes One PPG Place as a key hub for legal tenants in the city, reporting that the complex has attracted about 150,000 square feet of law firm leasing and listing Stevens & Lee as one of the more recent arrivals. Brokers say that the story of firms consolidating into amenity-heavy Class A space is a major reason downtown leasing has shown signs of life. JLL sums up the pattern with a now-familiar phrase: a continuing "flight-to-quality."
How much space and what it signals
Commercial market data pegs Stevens & Lee’s footprint at One PPG Place at about 10,343 square feet, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s Q3 2025 MarketBeat report, while a separate local snapshot from earlier in 2025 had estimated closer to 7,500 square feet. Either way, the firm fits into a growing camp of professional services tenants opting for smaller, higher-end offices rather than sprawling headquarters, a collective shift that has been helping Class A space get absorbed in the central business district.
What the expansion means locally
For downtown Pittsburgh, the deal lands as Class A towers appear to be stabilizing vacancy and pulling in tenants that want central amenities and transit access. Local brokers and market trackers have pointed to top-tier properties as the main engine behind recent positive absorption, a trend that building owners hope will eventually translate into more activity for street-level retailers and office support services in the core. The new Stevens & Lee space is one more data point in that slow, steady recovery narrative for the Golden Triangle.
Stevens & Lee, property brokers and downtown landlords, have not offered additional public comment beyond the published reports and the firm’s own announcement. For now, the firm’s expansion at One PPG Place will be one to watch as downtown leasing continues to tilt toward upgraded, centrally located offices.
