Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 7/10/19

The General Services Administration has extended the deadline by one month for Kansas City real estate companies to submit bids to host the Economic Research Service and National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Landlord fights back: The new deadline, now Aug. 7, comes after the current NIFA landlord has formally protested the entire search process, calling it a "quasi-competition," according to a document obtained by POLITICO.

NBL Associates, a real estate company that has been NIFA's landlord for 19 years, argues that USDA lacks the authority to conduct a real estate search on the large scale required to move ERS and NIFA. The company also wants to be able to participate in the bidding process, and has requested that the search start over but with GSA in charge.

The counter-argument: "USDA's mini-competition for the delineated area was unprecedented, ill-conceived, and unauthorized by statute and regulation," the complaint states. "The result of that unlawful process — the selection of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area as the delineated area — is tainted and unsupported."

The Agriculture Department handed over responsibility of procuring office space to GSA after Secretary Sonny Perdue announced the Kansas City pick in June. Perdue has said that he believes the two research agencies should be moved in order to be closer to farming communities, save costs and improve staff retention and recruitment.

Until permanent office space is found, USDA intends to house employees in a temporary building. The early wave of employees that choose to relocate will arrive as early as mid-July.

A USDA spokesperson didn't specifically respond to the allegations from JBL Associates, but said in a statement: "There have been no changes to our relocation timeline, and we will continue to work with GSA to secure permanent space for ERS and NIFA in the Kansas City Region."

An anticipated NIFA exodus: NIFA union leaders expect a mass attrition from the agency as many of its employees are not planning to move to Kansas City, according to a survey conducted by the union provided to POLITICO. The survey, which mirrors a similar one conducted by the ERS union, found that 70 percent of NIFA employees are certain they won't relocate.