Posted on January 8, 2026
AT&T’s Big Move: What Its New Plano Headquarters Means for Commercial Real Estate
AT&T is relocating its global headquarters from downtown Dallas to a new 54-acre campus in Plano’s Legacy District. This move marks a major shift in corporate real estate dynamics in North Texas, reshaping urban cores, fueling suburban growth, and influencing commercial property trends.
What’s Happening
Through employee surveys, AT&T gathered feedback and incorporated those insights directly into the development plans. Workforce feedback has highlighted the need for professional office spaces that support day-to-day functionality and collaboration. After taking a year to reflect, AT&T decided to go ahead with the plans of relocating their global headquarters to 5400 Legacy Drive in Plano, Texas.
The move highlights the appeal of large suburban campuses, offering space, flexibility, and cost efficiency that urban offices can’t easily match. AT&T plans to begin partial occupancy by late 2028, transforming the site into a modern, collaborative campus opening opportunities to have employee experience as the central focus.
How This Impacts Commercial Real Estate
AT&T’s big move shifts Dallas-Fort Worth commercial real estate, driving downtown vacancies and boosting suburban office demand.
- Downtown Dallas:
With AT&T relocating its headquarters, downtown Dallas may see increased office vacancies and downward pressure on rents due to the loss of a major anchor tenant. The departure highlights a broad trend of companies moving to suburban campuses, ultimately challenging Landlords and investors to adapt their strategies to increase retainment and repurpose urban office space. That said, Dallas’ resilience and ability to attract new opportunities suggest the downtown market will continue to evolve and recover.
- Plano:
The city of Plano offers large, flexible land parcels, established infrastructure, and a thriving business environment that makes it ideal for modern corporate campuses. Historically, Plano’s Legacy District has been a hub for major corporate relocations, including Toyota North America, Liberty Mutual, and Frito-Lay, establishing the area as a prime destination for large-scale office campuses. Suburbs like Plano are becoming key corporate hubs, which drives office development, mixed-use growth, and investor opportunities, while reshaping local commercial real estate dynamics.
Why Corporate HQs Are Leaving Big Cities
A growing trend in commercial real estate is corporations relocating to suburban or amenity-rich campus environments. Recently, corporations valued space, flexibility, and employee experience. The modern workplace highlights amenities, natural light, outdoor spaces, and collaborative layouts. Suburban campuses can accommodate these features more easily than dense city offices.
Hybrid work and new return-to-office norms are driving companies to reconsider where they locate offices and what types of spaces best support employees. While many employers are tightening return-to-office mandates to encourage collaboration and culture building, hybrid work remains prevalent and influences decisions about office size, layout, and location. This dynamic encourages the development of suburban or mixed-use campuses that offer easier commutes, more space for collaboration, and the ability to support new workplace models that blend in-office and remote work.
Similar trends are emerging in markets like Atlanta, Phoenix, and Raleigh-Durham, where large employers are choosing suburban campuses or lifestyle-oriented office environments over traditional downtown headquarters. For example, Mercedes-Benz recently expanded its North American headquarters to suburban Atlanta to accommodate growth, collaboration, and modern workplace needs. This just illustrates that Dallas-Fort Worth is part of a wider movement in corporate real estate.
Real Estate Investment Opportunities and Risks
Opportunities:
- Suburban office conversions – Corporations moving to suburban campuses create demand for modern office spaces, driving new construction, adaptive reuse, and leasing activity outside urban cores.
- Land development around legacy campuses – Large parcels like AT&T’s Plano site provide opportunities for mixed-use development, including office expansions, amenities, and supporting infrastructure.
- New retail and housing demand – Suburban campuses stimulate the local economy, increasing demand for housing, restaurants, and retail services to support employees and attract talent.
Risks:
- Downtown office vacancies – The departure of key tenants like AT&T may raise vacancies, lower rents, and push landlords to adapt or repurpose older office buildings.
- Changing corporate demand patterns – Hybrid work and corporate relocation trends may reduce demand for traditional downtown offices, creating uncertainty in long-term leasing strategies and investment returns.
What’s Next for Dallas and North Texas CRE
Since AT&T’s announcement of their departure, Dallas leaders and property owners are taking proactive steps to keep attraction. To keep urban core competitive to suburban campuses in terms of flexibility, employee experience, and convenience, there needs to be initiatives in place. This may include incentives for relocations or expansions, improving transit and connectivity, and enhancing amenities in office towers.
Dallas may experience higher vacancies in the short term, but this could also accelerate redevelopment trends. Older office towers could be repurposed into residential units, or flexible work environments. This trend is already visible in Phoenix, where Kinella Capital has taken over the One Camelback development for an office-to-residential conversion. Dallas, like other markets, has the chance to turn these challenges into opportunities by rethinking how office buildings serve today’s evolving urban landscape.
LPA brings trusted commercial real estate appraisal and advisory expertise, providing insight to help clients navigate market shifts, corporate relocations, and adaptive reuse trends. Through detailed valuation and market analysis, our team examines how major relocations—like AT&T’s move from downtown Dallas to Plano—shift demand, reposition properties, and reshape value in both urban and suburban markets over time.
