CHICAGO, IL – As the Big Ten Conference expands, growing from 12 to 14 schools, so does its headquarters. The Big Ten Conference sold its old headquarters at 1500 West Higgins Road, having recently moved into their new home at MB Financial Park in Rosemont, a customized, built-to-suit facility. The sale and move allows the organization to expand its operating bandwidth and support the addition of Rutgers University and University of Maryland in July of 2014 and expand its lineup to include sports like hockey and lacrosse.
The Big Ten’s new headquarters is nearly double the size of its old home at 1500 West Higgins Road in Ridge Park, where it resided for over 20 years. The old building was bought by a group of private investors with anticipated use for professional medical courses. Studley’s Executive Managing Director, Robert Sevim represented the Big Ten in the transaction. Cece Conway of Transwestern represented the buyer.
According to Sevim, the new facility will help support the growth phase the organization has experienced over the recent years. It will also enhance brand visibility from a physical perspective. The building overlooks Interstate 294 and is in close proximity to the newly opened Fashion Outlets of Chicago, as well as several existing hotels and restaurants.
“It was important for the Big Ten to enhance the experience for everyone that already interacts with the conference – from coaches, players and university executives to refs, alumni and fans,” comments Sevim. “The new location will greatly improve the accessibility for visitors, employees and the nearly five million alumni of the conference.”
Brad Traviolia, Deputy Commissioner of the Big Ten Conference, remarks on the symbolic move for the organization. “The Big Ten Conference is the oldest Division I collegiate conference in the country made up of many of the nation’s most well-regarded academic institutions. It is not a coincidence that our conference’s continued growth is highlighted by the operational expansion and the fresh look and feel embodied in our new headquarters,” says Traviolia. “The enhancements to our conference are significant and our new home showcases that in a big way. We want all Big Ten Conference constituents to be a part of and proud of our evolution.”
The new facility is equipped with high-tech, state-of-the-art conference rooms and an interactive museum with video displays and games. It will also house a television command center for officiating supervisors to monitor games in real time.
About the Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching and public service. Founded in 1896, the Big Ten has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in student-athletes’ lives and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness and competitiveness. The broad-based athletic programs of the 12 Big Ten institutions provide in excess of $141 million in direct financial aid to more than 8,200 student-athletes playing on more than 300 teams in 43 different sports. The Big Ten sponsors 26 official conference sports, 13 for men and 13 for women, and will add men’s and women’s lacrosse as the 27th and 28th official sports for the 2014-15 academic year. For more information, visit www.bigten.org.
About Studley
Studley is the leading global commercial real estate services firm specializing in tenant representation. Founded in 1954, Studley pioneered the conflict-free business model of representing only tenants in their commercial real estate transactions. Today, with over 60 offices worldwide, Studley provides strategic real estate solutions to top-tier corporations, not-for-profit organizations and law firms. For more information, please visit www.studley.com.
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