EMERYVILLE >> A veteran real estate firm is poised to grab ownership of a top-notch East Bay office building at a steep price reduction, another sign of a faltering Bay Area office market.

The weakness in the region’s office sector presents an opportunity for Blox Ventures to orchestrate a turnaround for the eight-story office building at 6001 Shellmound St. in Emeryville, which is located next to Public Market Emeryville. Blox Ventures bought the loan which uses the office building as collateral.

With its purchase of the loan from PNC Bank, Blox Ventures will be able to foreclose on it and become the new owner of the 109,300-square-foot building. Blox Ventures paid just under $6.8 million, which equates to roughly $62 a square foot.

The price that Blox paid to purchase the property’s mortgage is about 68% below the amount of the building’s $21.6-million loan, which matured and became due and payable in December 2024.

The low cost to buy the financing instrument enables Blox to offer the building for rent at a greatly reduced price compared to other buildings in this part of the East Bay, including those in nearby downtown Oakland.

The building is about 60% occupied, which means Blox has the opportunity to revive the office property’s fortunes by attracting tenants.

Blox sees plenty of potential in the Emeryville market.

“Emeryville is a leading innovation hub in the Bay Area,” said Blox Ventures CEO Jason Oberman.

Blox noted that several dynamic companies are located in the vicinity of the office building.

“With global leaders like Pixar Animation Studios, Bayer and Novartis, along with the area’s expanding residential offerings, the long-term potential of this property is very promising,” Oberman said.

In recent years, Blox staged a successful turnaround for another big commercial property in the Bay Area.

San Francisco-based Blox Ventures teamed up with New York City-based investment firm Angelo Gordon to buy a mixed-use complex of offices, shops and long-vacant supermarket space in Palo Alto for $78.3 million.

Blox and its partner eventually landed specialty grocer Real Produce International Market to fill the long-empty grocery store space in the complex on El Camino Real.

Buoyed by the leasing success, Blox and Angelo Gordon sold the complex in 2020 for $103.6 million — a profit of 32%.