Big 12 Conference to Relocate Texas HQ

The Big 12 Conference will relocate its headquarters to Williams Square in Irving, Texas, in the Metroplex, having signed a lease for 14,107 square feet of office space. The ownership is a joint venture of Apollo Global, Vanderbilt Office Properties and Hillwood Urban and was represented in-house. Cushman & Wakefield worked on behalf of the tenant. The firm plans to move into its new offices in fall 2024.

Williams Square comprises four buildings totaling nearly 1.4 million square feet. The owners acquired the campus from The Brookdale Group in 2015 through a $330 million portfolio transaction, according to CommercialEdge data. The new tenant leased space at the central tower which spans 614,527 square feet across 26 stories. The property’s roster includes Mitsubishi, WeWork and Tradition Energy, according to the same source.

The tenant’s previous location was at its roughly 18,000-square-foot building at 400 E. John W. Carpenter Freeway. Owned by the the conference, the property is some 2 miles from Williams Square, within the same Las Colinas area. Big 12 has retained Cushman & Wakefield to find a buyer for its previous headquarters, as reported by The Dallas Morning News. The move was motivated by the conference’s growth, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark stated in prepared remarks, as it now encompasses 16 teams.

Located at 5215 N. O’Connor Blvd., the central tower within Williams Square is roughly 12 miles from downtown Dallas. It is also less than 9 miles from the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, as well as from the Dallas Love Field Airport.

Office leasing in the Metroplex

Cushman & Wakefield Executive Director Travis Boothe and Managing Director Cynthia Cowen represented the tenant in the transaction. The landlord was represented by Hillwood Urban Senior Vice President Bill Brokaw and Leasing Manager Karch Schreiner.

Through 2023, the average listing rate within metro Dallas stood at $27, representing a 6.3 percent year-over-year decrease and below the national average of $37.6, according to a recent CommercialEdge report. In December 2023 the Metroplex’s vacancy rate reached 20.2 percent, rising by 170 basis points over 12 months and above the U.S. average of 18.3 percent, the same source shows.