John Hancock is putting a portion of its real estate holdings, including the famous John Hancock Tower in downtown Boston, on the block. The sale may raise as much as $1 billion for the insurer, according to Boston area papers.

The sale of the 62-story Hancock Tower may raise as much as $500 million. Other properties up for sale include the firm's Berkeley Building on Copley Square and a building located at 197 Clarendon. All told, the package accounts for 3 million square feet of office space.

Hancock plans to lease back much of the office space it now occupies as part of any tower sales deal. The lease would last at least a 10 years for the 20 percent of the Hancock tower the insurer now occupies.

The New York office of Morgan Stanley will handle the sale, which is reportedly Boston's largest real estate deal. Morgan also handled the sale of the Prudential Center, currently the largest deal on record in Boston.  

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