Lockton has lifted the curtain on its future global headquarters in Leawood, Kansas, with the world's largest privately held insurance brokerage describing the build-to-suit tower as one of the largest of its kind to break ground in the Midwest in the past five years.
The privately held broker said the project is intended to support workforce growth, in-person collaboration and global expansion, framing it as a long-term investment in its people and operations.
The headquarters will sit at the heart of a 30-acre-plus mixed-use site led by VanTrust Real Estate, with restaurants, a luxury hotel, retail, childcare, multifamily housing, additional office space and outdoor amenities woven into a walkable layout.
The 12-story tower will anchor the development at State Line Road and College Boulevard, beside Leawood City Park. At roughly 450,000 square feet, it will form the centerpiece of the 34-acre project, with a second-phase office building of about 225,000 square feet also planned.
The design draws on the Kansas City region, incorporating locally sourced limestone and materials meant to reflect the area's landscape. Cascading limestone terraces follow the site's topography, creating outdoor gathering areas and a setting for a smaller retreat building tucked into the hillside.
The tower's exterior will feature high-performance glass and metal accents inspired by the colors of the Kansas prairie and sky. A bronze canopy at the entry leads into a lobby that opens onto green space, with direct links to Leawood City Park and nearby trails.
Lockton said the aesthetic references the era in which the firm was founded 60 years ago, pairing clean lines and warm materials with flexible amenity spaces.
The build comes off Lockton's strongest financial year on record. The firm reported in June last year that fiscal 2025 revenue surpassed $4 billion, growing 13% organically, with international operations topping $1 billion and US operations reaching $2.7 billion.
Lockton said at the time that the firm had added more than 1,200 Associates globally during the year, lifting its workforce to over 13,500 across more than 140 offices.
Locally, the broker confirmed in December that its current Country Club Plaza headquarters houses 1,500 Associates, all of whom will move with the firm to Leawood. The new tower's footprint allows for substantial expansion beyond that base, consistent with the in-person collaboration emphasis that has shaped Lockton's workplace strategy.
The HQ build coincides with continued specialty growth. In February, Lockton formalized its global transaction liability practice and hired Mary Duffy from AIG to lead global expansion.
The firm has also added senior talent in adjacent specialty lines, naming Ashleigh Sears as Alternative Risk Solutions practice leader this month.
"This headquarters is more than a new address. It's a future-focused destination designed to elevate how we serve clients and how we support our people," chairman and CEO Ron Lockton said.
The project, first announced in December, is scheduled to break ground this summer, with relocation set for early 2030.
