Red Hat’s plan to move to the Progress Energy building in downtown Raleigh is not 100 percent certain.

Red Hat, currently located on Centennial Campus, is in the process of negotiating with Progress Energy. For the moment, Progress Energy employees occupy the building.

“We have got a non-binding letter of intent. We are continuing to negotiate with Red Hat, but we don’t have a signed contract yet,” Mike Hughes, a spokesman for Progress Energy, said.

There is no time limit on the letter of intent, according to Hughes. Red Hat can take all the time they want to negotiate the deal.

“We are very optimistic that we will be able to reach an agreement,” Hughes said. “We know it is very important to downtown Raleigh to have those jobs and have that office space filled, so we are doing everything we can to make that happen.”

The building has 120,000 square feet of office space, Hughes said.

Red Hat employs 3,700 people, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. As of the market close Tuesday, the company has a market capitalization of $9 billion, according to Forbes.

Progress Energy does not own the building – they are involved in a long-term lease. With the announcement of a possible merger with Duke Energy, the company is scouting suitors to sublease the entire building.

“There will be a number of jobs eliminated as part of the merger with Duke Energy in the next couple of years. We anticipate that building to be available, and we will consolidate all of our remaining employees in a single building or in some other facilities that we will be able to lease on a shorter timeframe,” Hughes said.

Red Hat has been a staple on campus since 2002. They provide their Linux-based computer system to the campus, according to the University website.

Red Hat was contacted by phone and email for comment, but did not respond.

Hunter Ross, a freshman in biological sciences, said he anticipates the move will detract from the University’s ability to recruit students.

“Red Hat adds an element of business and employment to the University. People won’t be able to find as much opportunity here, so fewer people will want to come here,” Ross said.

Resources that the University will lose will also make N.C . State less appealing, according to Ross.

“There won’t be as many resources available, and even if there were, people would have no motivation to use them,” Ross said.

Patel Kumar, a freshman in chemical engineering, did not comment on whether the move would be positive for the University, but did say a move to downtown would be a positive move for Red Hat.

“[The move] would publicize the company even more,” Kumar said. “A larger number of other companies would be aware of them if they were to move downtown because it’s a more popular area.”

Kumar also pointed out that although the company may soon move off campus, the fact that they were on campus in the first place shows past, present and future students there are opportunities available in Raleigh and at the University.

“It will show that N.C. State students have potential. It will also show that we have somewhere to go from here – in a positive direction,” Kumar said.

Entrepreneur and land developer Val Valentine, who is taking the lead on the Hillsborough Street project behind Timeout, Katmandu and Pantana Bob’s, commented over the summer that Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst is one of the top five smartest people in the world.

Whitehurst will make the best business decision, according to Valentine.