Sanwa for sale.

With a large chunk of space likely to be vacated next year, the owners of 601 S. Figueroa St. are putting the l million-square-foot office tower, formerly called Sanwa Bank Plaza, on the market, according to sources close to the deal.

Hines and its partner, Deutsche Immobilienfonds, or DIFA, have hired Secured Capital to market the property, the sources said. The owners want about $400 million, or $385 a foot, for the building, now called Figueroa at Wilshire.

Calls to Secured Capital and Hines weren't returned.

The sale comes about a year before the expiration of the lease held by Bank of the West, which purchased Sanwa Bank. Bank of the West likely will not renew the 220,000 square feet it takes in the building. The building's current vacancy rate is lower than downtown's average of 17.8 percent.

Tenant representatives say leasing the space could be difficult because of intense competition for tenants at Thomas Properties Group Inc.'s City National Plaza and Maguire Properties Inc.'s Wells Fargo Plaza.

Still, with prices for downtown office buildings soaring, investment brokers believe the $400 million price is likely attainable.

Hines, along with Mitsui Fudosan . developed the 1 million-square-foot property, with its distinctive octagonal glass crown. The building has some of the highest rents in downtown L.A.