When AT&T builds its new global headquarters in Plano, Texas, the first thing visible from miles away will not be a building. It will be a tower — an illuminated, AT&T-branded structure rising approximately 280 feet above the 54-acre campus at 5400 Legacy Drive, crowned by a globe-shaped cellular antenna bathed in the carrier’s signature blue. For an industry that spends most of its time trying to make cell towers invisible, it is a remarkable statement.
CEO John Stankey described the structure in a LinkedIn post as “an iconic tower, a foundational part of the campus, delivering world-class cell coverage to the campus and our new home neighborhood. With a globe at the top, it will stand out on the horizon, a symbol both of our headquarters and the advanced connectivity we provide across this country.”
From Downtown Dallas to a Suburban Campus
AT&T announced in January 2026 that it would construct its new global headquarters at 5400 Legacy Drive, consolidating operations currently spread across Dallas, Plano, and Irving onto a single 54-acre site. The company has been headquartered at the 37-story Whitacre Tower in downtown Dallas since 2008. That era is ending, with Stankey targeting partial occupancy at the new campus as early as the second half of 2028 and full consolidation before the Dallas lease expires in 2030.
The departure stings downtown Dallas. AT&T’s exit is expected to cost the area about $2.7 billion in property value losses, with vacated space described as nearly impossible to backfill. Once the move is complete, only one Fortune 500 company — Jacobs — will retain a corporate address downtown.
A Historic Site Reborn
The new headquarters will replace the former Electronic Data Systems campus, which Ross Perot developed in 1985 as a cornerstone of the Legacy business park but has sat vacant for more than seven years. AT&T’s campus will occupy the northern half of the 100-acre property, with the southern portion remaining available for additional redevelopment. The existing structures are set for demolition.
Plano’s Largest Incentive Package Ever
The Plano City Council unanimously approved a $20 million incentive package — the largest in the city’s history — structured as a performance-based agreement tied to investment, construction, and employment milestones. The package includes a $10 million redevelopment grant, a $10 million job creation incentive paying $1,000 per qualifying position, and a 65% property tax rebate for 25 years. AT&T must build at least 2 million square feet, invest a minimum of $1.35 billion, and reach 10,000 employees by 2039 to collect the full amount.
The financial case for Plano is compelling. The current property generates roughly $140,000 annually in city property taxes. Once AT&T is operating, the city projects that figure to reach $6 million per year.
What the Campus Will Look Like
Early renderings show a sprawling horizontal campus deliberately unlike the skyscraper environment AT&T is leaving behind. The iconic tower is the sole major vertical element — lit in AT&T blue, topped with a globe evoking the company’s logo, and functioning as a live cell site serving the campus and surrounding neighborhood. It will almost certainly become one of the most photographed carrier-owned tower installations in the country, and for an industry accustomed to fighting communities over tower siting, AT&T’s decision to make a cell tower its corporate front door is a striking inversion of the usual dynamic.
Once the move is complete, AT&T will become Plano’s second-largest employer behind JPMorgan Chase. Combined with Toyota North America, NTT Data, and the ongoing Park at Legacy mixed-use redevelopment at the former JCPenney campus nearby, the Legacy corridor is positioning itself as the most dynamic corporate real estate market in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
For the wireless construction industry, the Plano campus is a carrier’s declaration that cell towers are not infrastructure to be hidden or apologized for. They are, at least in AT&T’s vision of its own future, worth putting at the front door.
