Fiber internet company Frontier Communications is considering moving its corporate headquarters from the East Coast to either Dallas or Tampa, according to documents submitted to Dallas City Council.
City Council is being asked to designate Frontier’s Dallas office on McKinney Avenue as an enterprise zone, giving the Norwalk, Ct.-based company the ability to seek tax rebates on state sales and use fees on its expected capital investment. Council is to consider the designation Aug. 23.
The company estimates it would spend about $7 million to expand and renovate its Uptown office to accommodate its 638 Dallas-based employees as well as potentially others now working in Allen, according to the memo from assistant city manager Majed A. Al-Ghafry to council members.
Frontier pledged that at least 25% of any new hires would come from an enterprise zone, be economically disadvantaged or a veteran. The company would be required to maintain 500 jobs in Dallas.
“These jobs were previously remote workers in Dallas that were based out of the 1919 McKinney Avenue office, but will be returning to the physical office on either a full-time or hybrid basis,” Al-Ghafry wrote. “Frontier will either retain these jobs in Dallas, as well as make Dallas its new headquarters, or relocate jobs and the headquarters function to Tampa.”
According to the state’s economic development office, enterprise zones are designed to spur job creation through private investment in “economically distressed” parts of Texas. Dallas has nine enterprise zones beginning Sept. 1.
If Dallas is selected, Frontier also committed to adding or relocating staff within a five-year period, according to the memo. It employs 14,100 people in 25 states.
The LinkedIn profile of company CEO Nick Jeffery lists Dallas as his base.
Frontier’s financial path has been volatile in recent years, with a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 2020 that saw it emerge a year later by wiping out its equity holders. That erased about $11 million in debt.
Last week, the company said it secured $2.1 billion in new financing by capitalizing on its Dallas area fiber-to-the-home assets and customer contracts.
“This landmark deal is a significant milestone in our transformation and confirms the attractiveness of fiber as critical digital infrastructure,” said CFO Scott Beasley said in a statement. “The transaction unlocks a highly attractive, investment-grade source of capital that provides us a path to fully fund our fiber build.”
Frontier had to form a wholly owned entity to hold the company’s Dallas area fiber assets and customer contracts and receive payments from existing and future customers.
“Our Dallas market is a high performer and is one of many high-quality, mature fiber markets across our footprint that we can tap into for future securitization opportunities,” Beasley said.
Frontier provides fiber broadband and TV connections to 2.9 million subscribers in 25 states. It announced a goal in 2021 of wanting to surpass 10 million locations with fiber.
The company’s most recent quarterly results were its best performance in years, according to research analysts at MoffettNathanson. Its revenue totaled just under $2.9 billion through the first six months of this year, with net income of $1 million.
