AT&T headquarters move is not expected to be big blow to local real estate market, industry observers say

The news that AT&T's headquarters -- and about 700 employees -- will be moving to Dallas sent shock waves through the Alamo City's business community today.
Just how the local office market will be impacted by the move, however, remains to be seen.
Early indicators are, though, that at least on that front, the news may not be bleak.
All told, AT&T owns and/or occupies some 1.5 million square feet of space in San Antonio. The bulk of that space is spread out over four buildings that the telecommunications company owns, as follows:
530 McCullough, which spans 481,589 square feet;
4119 Broadway, 364,345 square feet;
105 Auditorium Circle, 214,503 square feet; and
1010 N. St. Mary's, 419,400 square feet.
The company's corporate headquarters are presently located in leased space downtown, in the IBC Centre buildings at 175 E. Houston St. AT&T is the anchor tenant -- occupying 275,000 square feet in the 352,000-square-foot complex.
AT&T employees are scattered throughout the various properties, notes AT&T spokesman Walt Sharp. But just how much space may be vacated at those buildings as a result of the pending headquarters move has not been disclosed.
"There are no plans to close any of the buildings," says Sharp, adding that even after the move of the 700 AT&T employees, that still leaves 5,300 people in San Antonio.
That is good news for the downtown office market, say real estate officials, adding that if AT&T vacated the IBC Centre complex, it would be a major blow to a submarket that has been losing steam over the past few years.
At present, the downtown office market is reporting a vacancy rate of 19 percent, according to Kimberly S. Gatley of NAI REOC Partners.
The bad news, however: Any hopes that local officials had that the AT&T/BellSouth merger might have resulted in more downtown office space being taken off the market is all but lost now.
"AT&T's exit will not be the end for San Antonio, but we were so hopeful that the recent AT&T mergers and growth would augment our local economy to even greater heights," Gatley says, "which now looks like it won't happen here."
credited by: bizjournals.com