Plano Dangles $20M Incentive Package to Land AT&T’s $1.4B HQ

Plano is making a giant offer to secure a telecom giant.

The Collin County suburb is prepared to offer AT&T a $20 million incentive package — the largest in the city’s history — plus a 65 percent property tax rebate on improvements for 25 years, as part of a bid to lock in AT&T’s planned multibillion-dollar global headquarters. The Dallas Morning News reported that City Council members are slated to vote on the deal on Monday.

Under the proposal, AT&T must invest at least $1.4 billion to build a minimum 2 million square feet of office, amenity and retail space on 54 acres at 5400 Legacy Drive. The company would be required to employ 10,000 full-time workers at the campus and occupy it for at least 25 years. Partial occupancy is targeted for the second half of 2028.

CEO John Stankey announced in January that the Fortune 500 firm would relocate its global headquarters to Plano, marking a major reinvestment in the city’s Legacy business district. The land is part of a 215-acre tract owned by Dallas-based NexPoint that includes the former Electronic Data Systems campus founded by H. Ross Perot Sr.

Half of the $20 million grant would offset redevelopment costs at the site. Even so, Plano’s economic development fund would retain roughly $36.8 million for future projects, according to city documents. AT&T must meet specified construction and employment benchmarks to receive the grants and rebates.

Plano Mayor John Muns has framed the relocation as a generational win, building on the suburb’s track record of luring corporate heavyweights such as Toyota Motor North America and JCPenney.

The flip side: Downtown Dallas stands to take a hit.

AT&T has been headquartered in Downtown Dallas since 2008 and leases the 37-story Whitacre Tower at 208 South Akard Street, owned by Pacific Elm Properties and Dundon Capital Partners, through the end of 2031. The company occupies roughly 3 million square feet in the city — more than any other private employer, according to CoStar — and invested $100 million in its Discovery District, which opened in 2021.

Downtown Dallas has estimated a full relocation could slash downtown property values by as much as 30 percent, or about $2.7 billion.— Eric Weilbacher