The Big 12 Conference will relocate its North Texas headquarters this fall, but it’s not going far.
The collegiate athletic conference plans to shift its base of operations just over a mile from its current location at 400 E. John Carpenter Freeway in Irving to Williams Square.
The Big 12 will lease 14,107 square feet within a Class A building at the Williams Square high-rise complex.
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said the move to Williams Square was warranted given the growth of the conference and its staff.
In 2024, the conference will encompass 16 teams. While Texas and Oklahoma will depart for the Souteastern Conference this year, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah will join Baylor, BYU, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech and West Virginia.
Williams Square, located in Irving’s Las Colinas area with views of Lake Carolyn, has undergone renovations across its 1.4 million square feet in recent years. Updates at the three-building development brought new lobby areas, tenant lounges and extensive outdoor space that have helped boost occupancy at the landmark property. Last year, Williams Square opened a dining and meeting space called the Constellation Club, an added amenity for the revamped towers.
Travis Boothe and Cynthia Cowen of Cushman & Wakefield represented the Big 12 in the lease at 5215 N. O’Connor Blvd. Hillwood Urban’s Bill Brokaw and Karch Schreiner worked with the ownership, a partnership between Apollo Global, Vanderbilt Office Properties and Hillwood Urban.
The conference will join firms such as Caterpillar, Accenture and Flowserve at Williams Square.
The Big 12 has retained Cushman & Wakefield to help it find a buyer for its headquarters building along John Carpenter Freeway.
County records show the conference has been in the approximately 14,000-square-foot building since 2006, shifting from an address along N. Stemmons Freeway in Dallas.
The Big 12 was formed in 1996 with the combination of the Big Eight Conference and the majority of the Southwest Conference.
