JPMorgan Chase began marketing this summer; the others in the eight-state, 7.1-million-square-foot portfolio are still for sale, according to Bloomberg. Calls to JPMorgan for comment were not returned by deadline.

A sticking point, according to the Bloomberg report, may have been the bank's unwillingness to finance the deal. Most of the larger transactions that have closed this year either have entailed some degree of seller financing or, as in the sale-leaseback of HSBC's 452 Fifth Ave. tower earlier this week, were all-cash deals.

Moreover, establishing a price remains a challenge in a market with few data points. In August, Dan Fasulo, managing director at Real Capital Analytics, told GlobeSt.com that a One Chase Plaza deal would be one of the transactions that would help establish a market, since it represents a stabilized asset as opposed to a distressed property.

"It feeds on itself," Fasulo said in August. "Once the first handful of transactions takes place, sellers say, 'okay, that's the market, you can have my building for x amount.' The buyers feel comfortable that there are comps to work with and the lenders feel comfortable because there are other transactions happening at these price levels."