Real estate experts around town say a tenant with the size and credit worthiness of ADP could get some very attractive offers in the way of free rent, moving expenses and tenant improvement dollars. They also describe ADP's window shopping as somewhat predictable. "A lot of larger Downtown tenants are in the market examining their options in an attempt to make sure they are getting the best deal they can possibly get when renegotiating their lease with their existing landlord," one local expert tells GlobeSt.

The law firms Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt and Miller Nash are prime examples. Both flirted with owners of office buildings existing and planned earlier this year before signing new deals with their existing landlords at better rates than they had been paying. ADP's current lessor no doubt knows what the law firms knew: it's much easier to stay put because it's expensive to move and otherwise a general pain in the butt, with unwanted downtime, unexpected costs and potentially the loss of skilled employees who quit because they don't like the new location.

"The existing landlord will understand that," one local expert tells GlobeSt. "So let's say they have an offer on the table that's 20% less than what's be offered by their existing landlord. The existing landlord isn't going to match it, because he knows the tenant has costs as well, so maybe the existing landlord counters with a 10% discount."

Still, the owners of ADP Plaza have a lot to lose two years from now if they don't keep ADP happy now by drafting a new lease at a lower rate. Just the tenant improvement cost to attract new tenants could run them well over $2 million, sources say, not to mention the cost of advertising and commissions and, worse yet, empty space.