The Associated Press, citing a Daily Press of Newport News, Va., report, is saying the Atlantic 10 Conference is planning to relocate its headquarters from 230 South Broad Street down to Virginia.

It seems strange — there are, of course, three A-10 teams in Philly, while Richmond is the lone Virginia school, and Philly is more or less a central location for the league — but “economics” were cited as the reason for the move, according to an anonymous source cited in the report. An official announcement is expected Thursday. We’ll try to provide more details as we get them.

UPDATE: The complete statement from the A-10 office, released after today’s press conference in Newport News, is after the jump.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade today announced the Atlantic 10 Conference office will relocate from Philadelphia to Newport News, Va. The announcement was made at a press conference from the Rotunda of the Newport News Marriott at City Center.

The relocation process will be completed later this fall.

“Moving the office to a new region of the Atlantic 10 footprint is an opportunity to further brand the A-10. Newport News is a vibrant, growing city and Hampton Roads serves as an educational, business, cultural, and leisure hub of the Mid-Atlantic region,” stated Commissioner McGlade. “The staff and I are looking forward to the relocation and becoming immersed in the community. Occupying new, built-to-suit offices will enhance our working environment to serve our membership.”

“We are thrilled to welcome the Atlantic 10 into the Newport News family,” says Newport News Mayor Joe S. Frank. “This community will embrace the league, its staff, coaches, athletic directors, university presidents and student-athletes. The quality of life, dynamic business community and generous citizen support in Newport News will make our city the perfect home for the Atlantic 10.”

The newly-constructed, state-of-the-art office will be housed in the energetic City Center at Oyster Point, which combines modern office buildings with a wide variety of restaurants and food merchants, upscale retail shops, a four-star hotel and luxurious condominiums and apartments, all within an established 700-acre area that makes up the Virginia Peninsula’s premier office park. Some of the prominent businesses that occupy the Class A office space, which is surrounded by the grand eight-acre Fountain Park, include RBC Centura Bank, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, The Boeing Company, Langley Federal Credit Union, and Harvey Lindsay Commercial Real Estate.

“For the A-10 to move within the footprint of the conference into a state-of-the-art building in the Hampton Roads region is a great opportunity and an exciting time for the league,” says Jack Kvancz, Director of Athletics at George Washington University and Chair of the Atlantic 10 Athletic Directors.

“It’s exciting to have the conference office in close proximity to the University of Richmond,” says UR head men’s basketball coach Chris Mooney. “In my four years at Richmond, I have been very impressed with the A-10 staff and their commitment to serving the 14 institutions of the Atlantic 10. I know that level of commitment will continue wherever the offices are headquartered.”

The conference office has been located in Philadelphia since 1995, when it moved from Cranbury, N.J. Prior to Cranbury, the offices were headquartered in Woodbridge, N.J., Rutherford, N.J., Pittsburgh, Pa., and Morgantown, W. Va.

For more information on City Center at Oyster Point, including a complete listing of shops, business tenants and events at City Center, log on to www.citycenteratoysterpoint.com.

Link: A-10 on the move [Associated Press]