![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/att-dicovery-district_taylor-adams.webp.jpeg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe AT&T Discovery District on Halloween night.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe AT&T Discovery District on Halloween night.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Taylor Adams<\/p>\n
AT&T confirmed what has been whispered about for months on Monday morning: The technology giant is moving to Plano. Despite the news, local leaders are sticking to a message of optimism regarding the future of Dallas\u2019 urban core.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Fortune 500 company moved its global headquarters <\/a>to Dallas in 2008, but last year, it began scouting out land in the northern suburbs for a new campus. That land search came after a Downtown Dallas Inc. (DDI) study warned that concerns about public safety and homelessness were affecting the company\u2019s interest in Big D\u2019s urban core. Coming alongside threats by Saks Global to shutter Neiman Marcus\u2019 flagship store downtown<\/a>, city leaders scrambled to assure residents and businesses that the major players would be appeased into staying in the city\u2019s core.<\/p>\n In a statement Monday morning, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson suggested that those talks eventually fell through with AT&T <\/a>due to the company\u2019s interest in moving away from a skyscraper-style development. According to an email sent by AT&T CEO John Stankey to employees on Monday, 54 acres of land along Legacy Drive in Plano will be the footprint of the company\u2019s new headquarters.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs we worked to retain AT&T, it became clear that its current leaders preferred a large horizontal, suburban-style campus rather than the skyscrapers that define our city center,\u201d Johnson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Johnson, along with City Manager Kimberly Tolbert and City Council member Jesse Moreno, whose district includes the downtown area, have stressed that AT&T\u2019s move will \u201copen the door for\u201d new opportunities in the city\u2019s urban core. In a statement, Moreno acknowledged that he is \u201cdisappointed\u201d by AT&T\u2019s decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI see opportunities for reinvigoration and new partnership in downtown Dallas. The city continues to attract strong interest and investment, including a growing number of financial institutions choosing to relocate here,\u201d Moreno said. \u201cWe are moving with urgency to ensure the core of Dallas remains competitive and welcoming to new headquarters and job creators.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Moreno, who chairs the council\u2019s Economic Development Committee, also pointed out that despite the concerns identified in the Downtown Dallas Inc. survey, strides have been made in improving the downtown environment. Dallas police data analyzed by WFAA<\/a> revealed that violent incidents downtown had decreased by the end of November 2025 compared with the same period the previous year, thanks in part to an initiative aimed at increasing police presence downtown and better addressing homelessness. City leaders also touted \u201cthe effective end\u201d to downtown homelessness in 2025. (The claim means that individuals identified as sleeping downtown are prioritized for services, not that you\u2019ll never see another homeless person walking through the urban core.)\u00a0<\/p>\n Moreno did not comment on what he believes AT&T\u2019s downtown departure will mean for the future of City Hall. The City Council has launched an economic development analysis to determine whether the current Marilla Street structure is best serving the downtown area, or whether it could present economic advantages for the city to rethink its urban core\u2019s development.\u00a0<\/p>\n .@ATT<\/a> is a great company and if they have to leave Dallas, I’m glad they picked Plano, which shares a large border with District 12. Many Far North Dallas residents work for AT&T and will enjoy a shorter commute and plenty of parking. Each year at budget time, I share concerns\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Cara Mendelsohn \ud83d\udfe6 (@caraathome) January 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Downtown Dallas Inc. is also looking on the sunny side. After acknowledging AT&T\u2019s substantial presence in downtown in a statement provided to the Observer, DDI pointed to the possibilities that such a new space affords. Even as leaders espouse optimism, Downtown Dallas Inc. has estimated that an AT&T relocation would tank downtown property values, costing around $2.7 billion overall, The Dallas Morning News reports.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Stankey told the\u00a0News\u00a0that the company hopes to be partially moved into its new campus by the end of 2028, and that the new space will allow AT&T to \u201ccost-effectively consolidate all Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex administrative space, including our three largest locations in Central Dallas, Plano, and Irving.\u201d As of 2022, the downtown Dallas office held 6,000 workers.<\/p>\n In a post to social media, council member Cara Mendelsohn, whose district shares a border with Plano, remarked that the new campus will improve commuting times and parking availability for AT&T employees, \u201cmany\u201d of whom live in Dallas\u2019 northern districts. An internal AT&T report found that relocating to Plano will reduce commuting times for the majority of AT&T\u2019s employees.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mendelsohn also offered her own perspective on why the company might be considering leaving Big D.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe company\u2019s\u00a0announcement does not change\u00a0our\u00a0conviction that Downtown Dallas is one of the best places in the country to do business,\u201d the statement from DDI President and CEO Jennifer Scripps noted. \u201cThe urban core\u00a0remains\u00a0the economic engine of the region and the center of\u00a0\u2018Y\u2019all Street.\u2019\u00a0Downtown continues to make meaningful progress \u2014 billions of dollars in public investment are underway, and significant private redevelopment\u00a0remains\u00a0in the pipeline. While this moment is challenging, it also creates space for new opportunities and continued reinvention.\u201d<\/p>\n