At the Carson Nugget Redevelopment Advisory Committee meeting last night, it was revealed that the developers are negotiating with the Gaming Control Board, Public Utilities Commission and the Department of Health and Human Services about relocating to the planned downtown development.

But the landlord of one of these agencies said it would be highly unlikely that any of them will move anytime soon.

Because of client confidentiality and the possibility of future lease negotiations, I agreed not to reveal the landlord's name, or the agency this person's company rents to.

"I don't see how any of these agencies could possibly make this move," the landlord said. "They can't justify the costs. These are full-service leases that include utilities and janitorial service."

This landlord said that the state recently sent out letters to all landlords asking them to cut their rents by 10-15 percent, which many did. This person noted that another state agency recently signed a full-service lease for $1.05 per square foot, which would be very hard for any new development to come close to matching.

"Labor costs are down, but building materials aren't," the landlord said. The requirement for a parking garage to serve the planned development also adds to the costs.

And it's not just the leasing costs, but the moving costs that the state will have to foot the bill for, the landlord said, noting that these agencies have a lot of special equipment like satellite dishes that would have to be relocated.

When asked if renegotiation was on the table if any of these agencies attempted to move, the landlord said yes, absolutely, that no landlord can afford to lose tenants at this time.

"With all the empty office space around here, how can they think that building more will solve the problem?"

This landlord was skeptical about the planned study, paid for by the Nugget, that would show these agencies could save money by consolidating their operations in one place.

"These are separate agencies. What are they going to share that would make that much of a difference?"

Today, I talked with Joe McCarthy, head of the city's Office of Business Development about this issue. He said that there are ways for the state to save money putting these agencies in one place by cutting back on human resources and IT personnel, as well as other savings.

The landlord also expressed some anger that city government would be using their sales tax dollars to "play favorites" and take tenants away from existing local businesses and hand them over to an out-of-town developer.

"Who's side are they on? How does this count as economic development?"

We'll have more on this as additional information rolls in.