Sherrard, German & Kelly Signs 20,000-Square-Foot Lease at Fifth Avenue Place in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh law firm Sherrard, German & Kelly, P.C. will relocate to more than 20,000 square feet on the 16th floor of Fifth Avenue Place, a trophy office tower at 120 Fifth Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh, JLL announced Sept. 16. The firm is expected to occupy the space in spring 2027.

JLL's Pittsburgh Law Firm Practice Group represented Sherrard, German & Kelly in the transaction. The team included Executive Managing Director Dan Adamski, Senior Managing Director Nick Francic, and Executive Vice President Reid Mauro.

The Transaction

Fifth Avenue Place sits at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh's central business district. The building, completed in 1988, encompasses approximately 750,201 square feet. Its typical floor plate runs approximately 23,740 square feet, making Sherrard, German & Kelly's more-than-20,000-square-foot lease a substantial portion of a single office floor.

The relocation moves Sherrard, German & Kelly from its previous address at 535 Smithfield Street to a prominent upper-floor position in one of downtown Pittsburgh's most recognizable office buildings.

"A firm's office says a lot about how it sees itself. For us, that meant establishing a central city location, and we are excited to move into a building that mirrors the high standard of leading-edge legal work that our team delivers to our clients," said Eric Springer, Co-Managing Shareholder and Director - President at Sherrard, German & Kelly.

"For law firms, the office has become as much a business decision as a real estate one," said Dan Adamski. "Trophy buildings like Fifth Avenue Place are capturing the firms that are trading up, drawn by amenities and quality that older buildings often can't match."

Building Amenities and Recent Renovation

Fifth Avenue Place has undergone significant capital investment in recent years. A renovation of the building's first and second floors — totaling approximately 75,000 square feet — was completed in 2023. The project encompassed a glass-fronted lobby upgrade, expanded retail storefronts, a coffee shop, a conference center, and employee meeting space. The building also offers on-site fitness center access, sweeping city views, and a growing set of dining options. The press release cited a $20 million investment in the lobby renovation and expanded retail space.

The amenity investment reflects a broader strategy among owners of premium office buildings to differentiate their properties from older, less extensively upgraded inventory.

Pittsburgh Law Firm Market Trends

The Sherrard, German & Kelly relocation fits a pattern JLL has identified across Pittsburgh's legal sector. According to JLL's Pittsburgh law firm benchmarking study, local firms average 777 square feet per attorney, roughly 15% above the national benchmark of 675 square feet. Most Pittsburgh law firms are not planning meaningful space reductions over the next five years. Instead, firms are reconsidering how they use their offices, with food, social space, and on-site programming emerging as top investment priorities.

The transaction is an example of flight-to-quality activity in Pittsburgh's office market, where tenant demand has concentrated in highly amenitized, centrally located buildings even as overall vacancy remains elevated. CBRE reported overall Pittsburgh office vacancy at 17.6% in the first quarter of 2026, with availability at 20.7% and negative net absorption of 266,000 square feet for the quarter. Average asking rent across the market stood at $26.74 per square foot in the same period.

In the central business district, Class A asking rents averaged $30.69 per square foot in the first quarter of 2026, compared with $28.50 per square foot across all classes. Downtown Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle recorded office vacancy of approximately 22% at year-end 2025, though leasing activity in upscale buildings improved during the second half of that year, with premium towers recording more leasing than move-outs across the final two quarters.

About the Firms

Sherrard, German & Kelly, P.C. is a Pittsburgh-based law firm. JLL is a global commercial real estate services and investment management company with annual revenue of $26.1 billion, operations in more than 80 countries, and a global workforce of more than 112,000 as of June 30, 2026.

Sources: JLL Newsroom