Renderings of AT&T’s proposed HQ in Plano.
Courtesy of AT&T
Plans for AT&T’s new multibillion-dollar headquarters in Plano — complete with a 280-foot structure that one official called a “mini Reunion Tower” — got key approval from the city’s planning and zoning commission Monday night.
Commissioners unanimously recommended approval for four items tied to the telecom giant’s new 54-acre campus at 5400 Legacy Drive and adjacent sites. The Plano City Council will get the final say.
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Preliminary site plans show there will be 2.3 million square feet of building space. The office campus will also include a daycare center, a pedestrian bridge, ¾ of an acre of public green space, and the tower. The southern half of the site will include parking garages. The tower may not exceed 280 feet.
The tallest building, excluding the tower, will be eight stories. The 280-foot tower will feature AT&T’s logo and include an enclosed communications antenna. City codes prevent the tower from flashing, strobing or displaying other related light effects between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., and the structure must still be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, city planners said.
The tower will be set back 320 feet from nearby residential structures, and any major changes would require the approval of the planning and zoning commission. Plano planning commissioner Ban Alali said the structure resembles a miniature version of Dallas’ 561-foot Reunion Tower.
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The company announced earlier this year it planned to move its global headquarters out of downtown Dallas. AT&T’s lease at the 37-story Whitacre Tower at 208 S. Akard St. runs through Dec. 31, 2031.
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Two of the requests were filed by Dallas-based investment firm NexPoint. The group owns the 54-acre site. The firm requested to rezone 1.4 acres of the site as a planned development — which was required because the tower will also function as a communications antenna.
The second item outlined AT&T’s larger plans for the entire campus. City officials expressed concern that the site’s infrastructure may not be able to handle the large influx of workers based on initial water and wastewater engineering plan reviews. As part of the deal, TRQ would be required to reach an agreement with the city to make any needed improvements.
The third and fourth requests were filed by TCAL Property Owner, LLC to update property boundaries. AT&T seeks to incorporate portions of the adjacent lots to the east into the office campus.
AT&T CEO John Stankey shared a fresh look at the planned headquarters last week. Documents and early renderings submitted to the city last month referred to the project as SEC Parkwood at Legacy.
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Renderings of AT&T’s proposed HQ in Plano.
Courtesy of AT&T
“At AT&T, building our new headquarters in Plano, TX is about far more than real estate. It’s a strategic investment in our people, culture, and the way we work … today and into the future,” Stankey wrote in a LinkedIn post. “We started with a clean sheet of paper and a location central to the communities where most of our employees live.”
Plano city officials approved a $20 million incentive package and a lengthy tax rebate for AT&T. It’s the largest incentive package the city has given to a private employer.
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Under terms of the Chapter 380 agreement, the Fortune 500 firm must spend a minimum of $1.35 billion in construction costs on the project. The telecom giant must also build a minimum of 2 million square feet of office, amenity and retail space at the site, eventually employ 10,000 full-time workers at the property and occupy the planned headquarters for 25 years.
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In addition to the $20 million in grants, the firm will receive a 65% property tax rebate on improvements made at the site over 25 years, starting in 2030. The rebate could be extended for an additional decade at 25%, if AT&T purchases the site.
Stankey said AT&T is targeting partial occupancy for the new headquarters “as early as the second half of 2028.” Developer KDC, architecture firm Gensler and landscape architects SWA are involved in the project.