Selling downtown Dallas to corporate America is getting easier, thanks to high-profile business moves.

AT&T's relocation announcement Friday comes just a year after Comerica Inc. said it was shifting its headquarters from Detroit to downtown Dallas.

And this move brings more workers – 700 for AT&T Inc., compared with about 200 who came with Comerica.

Like the Comerica deal, AT&T's decision to locate in Dallas' center is seen as broad confirmation that downtown has made a comeback.

"What more could anyone ask for to help revitalize downtown than to have the world headquarters of a major company like AT&T move here," said John Crawford, president and CEO of DowntownDallas, the central business district economic development organization.

"The number of people they are bringing here and the type of jobs are fantastic.

"Not only is there direct benefit of having AT&T's headquarters downtown, but you have vendors and suppliers that want to be around the head office," he said. "There will be a steady stream of people following this."

He said AT&T already has about 3,500 people in the central business district, making it one of the largest employers.

AT&T plans to move the new Dallas jobs into its existing downtown offices. The complex at Akard and Commerce streets contains four skyscrapers – the most recent constructed in the mid-1980s.

The buildings contain more than 2 million square feet – the largest single-tenant office facility downtown.

Downtown Dallas' office market had already been experiencing a good year before news broke of AT&T's move.

During the first half of 2008, expanding and relocating office tenants have occupied an additional 400,000 square feet of central business district office space. That's almost twice the net leasing of all of 2007.

Even though AT&T doesn't plan to lease more office space, just having the telecom company's home office downtown will provide a boost.

"There's a lot of synergy created to have a company like AT&T here," said Joel Pustmueller with Dallas' Peloton Real Estate Partners. "This will focus attention on downtown."

Mr. Crawford – who has been busy wooing business back to the city's core – agrees.

"This will help us reach out to others who might want to be downtown," he said. "I'm beyond pleased – I'm ecstatic."

The attention-grabbing business relocation could also be a boon for developers who are building hundreds of new apartments downtown.

"Oh my word, it's a home run," said Larry Hamilton, whose firm has converted a handful of downtown office towers into loft apartments and is now working on a new hotel. "It's perfect timing for downtown Dallas."

During the last few years, developers backed with public-sector incentives have added more than 2,000 residential units and supporting retail space downtown.

Still more housing, hotels and shopping is in the works.

Those improvements have helped attract a growing number of businesses to the city center, including 7-Eleven Corp., insurance giant American International Group and TM Advertising.

Downtown office vacancies have fallen from almost 40 percent in the 1990s to just over 25 percent currently. And most of that empty space is in outdated buildings.

The current construction of more than $300 million in arts and cultural facilities in downtown Dallas' Arts District is expected to give the central business district more momentum.

Developers also have plans for a handful of buildings on downtown's north side.