The Big 12 Conference is kissing its longtime Irving headquarters goodbye as it prepares to move into new digs elsewhere in the northwest Dallas suburb.
The college athletics conference has hired Cushman & Wakefield brokers Beth Lambert and Andrew White to sell the two-story, 14,300-square-foot office building at 400 East John Carpenter Freeway, the Dallas Business Journal reported.
The Big 12 has owned the nearly 2-acre property since 2006, 10 years after the building was completed. The conference is leaving behind its audio and technology equipment, along with furniture, as part of the offering.
It’s possible that the property could sit on the market for a while, as many investors these days are steering clear of office assets amid remote-work trends and high interest rates. Tough lending standards have also contributed to minimal office sales in Dallas-Fort Worth since last year.
The property is well suited for smaller tenants financially strong enough to own their building, Lambert said. Its architecture and association with the Big 12 have already helped attract prospective buyers, she said.
“As rents escalate, ownership becomes more achievable and attractive,” Lambert told the outlet. “It’s not going to be an investor that buys this property, likely. It’s going to be an end user, someone who’s going to make this their home, and we already have offers on the building that came very quickly.”
The Big 12 plans to relocate this fall to the Williams Square office tower, at 5215 North O’Connor Boulevard, in Irving’s Las Colinas community, where it will occupy 14,100 square feet.
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The conference and its staff are expanding, which prompted the move, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said. Universities joining the conference this year are Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah, following additions such as Houston, Brigham Young, Cincinnati and Central Florida in 2023.
As Texas and Oklahoma transition to the Southeastern Conference, the Big 12 is adapting its infrastructure to accommodate a larger workforce. Although the Big 12’s space will be slightly smaller than its longtime home, it will have more workstations and collaboration spaces to house additional employees and visitors, the outlet reported.
—Quinn Donoghue
