| Whitacre Tower | |
|---|---|
 View of One AT&T Plaza from the southeast | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Office |
| Location | 208 South Akard St |
| Completed | 1984 |
| Owner | AT&T (lease) PacElm Properties |
| Height | |
| Roof | 580 ft (180 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 37 |
| Design and construction | |
| Main contractor | The Beck Group |
Whitacre Tower, also known asOne AT&T Plaza, and formerly known asOne Bell Plaza, is a 37-storyhigh-rise inDowntown Dallas, built adjacent to the Akard Street Mall in 1984.
The building is theheadquarters forAT&T andSouthwestern Bell Telephone, which operates as "AT&T Southwest". It is 580 feet (177 m) tall, the13th-tallest building in the city. The Continental Buff Travertine (provided by Idaho Travertine, now Yellowstone Rock) and glass skyscraper has over 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2) of office space.[1]
The site of the modern day tower was originally a plot of land purchased by Missouri real estate developer Thomas Field in 1887. In 1893, Field opened the $500,000 Oriental Hotel on the site.[2] In 1924, the Oriental Hotel was torn down and the Baker Hotel was constructed on the same site in 1925. The Baker Hotel was imploded in 1980 to make room for the Southwestern Bell Telephone headquarters, which eventually became the Whitacre Tower in 1982.[1][3]
AT&T moved its headquarters to the tower from a location inSan Antonio,Texas, in 2008.Mayor of DallasTom Leppert said then he hoped AT&T would stay in the central city.[4] Most of the around 700 workers moving to the Whitacre Tower were moved into 17 floors that were being refurbished. In August 2008, AT&T sold the tower toIcahn Enterprises and took a long-term lease in the tower.[1]
AT&T renamed the tower the "Whitacre Tower" afterEdward Whitacre Jr., a former chairman and chief executive, in 2009. AT&T movedSpirit of Communication, a gold statue, from itsBedminster, New Jersey, offices to the Whitacre Tower.[5]
Authority control databases: Geographic |
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32°46′46″N96°47′56″W / 32.77944°N 96.79889°W /32.77944; -96.79889
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