A representative from Parkway Properties did not return a phone call seeking comment. The sale could generate approximate 22% of Parkway's annual net operating income, according a report prepared on Parkway Properties by Baird.

The two buildings are currently 93% leased, which is a 7% increase from the beginning of the year, according to the report. "They are very well leased and very well operated today," Loeb says. Health Care Services Corp., operating as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, expanded to 263,000-sf at One Illinois Center in June, as previously reported by GlobeSt.com. Health Care Services Corp. is the largest tenant in the 30-story building. Other tenants in One Illinois Center include the law firm Sheffky & Froelich, Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, the communication firm Golin & Harris and ad agency Digitas. The asking lease rate for One Illinois Center is between $15 per sf and $17 per sf, net.

Parkway is expected to sell the buildings into a joint venture, selling off about 75% of the buildings and retaining a 25% ownership, Loeb says. "Our thought is (the buyer would be) more a pension fund or insurance company as opposed to a foreign buyer or private equity buyer," he tells GlobeSt.com. Parkway has been looking to sell the buildings so they did not have such a concentration in Chicago and is also seeking to go into a more operator-owner role as opposed to an owner-operator role, Loeb says. Parkway "never intended to be a long-term owner" of the two buildings, Loeb says.