MetLife Inc. has reached an agreement with the owners of Aon Center to buy L.A.’s second tallest tower for about $220 million, according to sources close to the deal.

The tower’s owner, Chicago-based Transwestern Investment Co., bought the 1 million-square-foot Aon Center in late 2003 from Wells Fargo & Co. for $120 million.

Transwestern originally retained Eastdil Realty to refinance the 64-story tower, but when the firm’s brokers showed company officials what they could get for the property, the building was quietly put on the block.

It had been rumored to be for sale ever since Eastdil was retained. Eastdil, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wells Fargo, was the firm that brokered Aon Center’s sale to Transwestern.

Because of escalating property values downtown, several office building owners have listed their buildings in the last couple of weeks. Hines and its German investment partner, hired Secured Capital Corp. to sell its former Sanwa Bank Plaza at 601 S. Figueroa St. and O’Melveny & Myers has retained Cushman & Wakefield Inc. to sell its Mellon Bank Plaza at 400 S. Hope St.

If the deal closes, Aon Center’s sale price would be below what other trophy downtown Los Angeles office buildings fetched. The 777 Tower at 777 S. Figueroa St. and Bank of America Plaza at 333 S. Hope St. both traded within the last year for above $350 a foot.

Aon Center’s vacancy levels and asking rates have also lagged other downtown buildings, according to tenant brokers. In addition, the 200,000 square feet occupied by the building’s anchor tenant, insurer Aon Corp., is up for renewal in the next couple of years. Some brokers say that the company hasn’t made a commitment to stay and has signaled it may even cut the amount of space it takes.

*The

full Real Estate column

is available in the May 16 edition of the Los Angeles Business Journal.