OAKLAND — A historic office building in the bustling Uptown district of downtown Oakland has been bought by a veteran Bay Area real estate firm in a deal that points to ongoing strength in the core business district of the East Bay’s largest city.

Acting through an affiliate, Vertical Ventures has bought the Wakefield Building, located at 426 17th St. between Broadway and Franklin Street in downtown Oakland, according to Alameda County property documents filed on Feb 5.

The eight-story building totals 57,000 square feet and is steps away from the 19th Street BART station in Oakland, according to the sellers in the deal, San Francisco-based Swig Co. and Chile-based STARS Real Estate Investments.

“We saw the potential in this property to offer flexible, open workspace to smaller occupiers wanting classic finishes with abundant natural light in a wonderful historic building and upgraded the property accordingly,” said Tomas Schoenberg, executive vice president of investment with Swig Co.

The building is within a block of the bars, cafes, restaurants, shops, and music venues that epitomize the hip and trendy Uptown neighborhood in downtown Oakland.

“This acquisition represents a very successful value-add execution and a strategic asset turnaround story for our investors,” said Oscar Boettiger, chief executive officer with STARS.

Walnut Creek-based Vertical Ventures paid $29.9 million for the Wakefield Building, county property records show.

“We are proud to have been the careful stewards of this asset, and to have improved its appeal to tenants,” Schoenberg said.

Brokers Seth Siegel, Ryan Venezia, and Ryan Hattersley of Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate firm, arranged the property transaction.

The new owners obtained a $26 million loan from VMC Lender to help finance the purchase.

Brokers Conor Ranahan and Ari Rockeach with the Oakland office of Newmark Knight Frank have been retained to handle the ongoing leasing and marketing of The Wakefield Building.

Vertical Ventures owns a number of Bay Area properties, according to the company’s web site.

Among them, Dixon Landing Research Park in Fremont; The Point ar Redwood Shores, a Redwood City tech campus; The Landing, a two-building Oakland office project; Hellyer Oaks Technology Park in south San Jose; Eastmont Town Center, the one-time Eastmont Mall in Oakland that’s been converted to an office complex; and Montague Business Center in north San Jose.

The Wakefield Building transaction appears to have enriched Swig Co. and STARS with a significant profit.

The sellers bought the property in 2017, a few years after it had tumbled into foreclosure, according to Alameda County documents. Swig and STARS kept their purchase price in 2017 confidential, but they did obtain a $10.5 million loan from JPMorgan Chase at the time of that acquisition.

At the time of the just-completed purchase this week, The Wakefield Building had an assessed value of $13 million, files at the Alameda County Assessor’s Office show.

In 2012, in the wake of a major recession, the foreclosure proceeding on the property placed a $9.2 million value on The Wakefield Building, according to the county documents.

Tenants in The Wakefield Building include emerging tech startups and nonprofits such as First Place for Youth.

“We made a timely purchase of this asset and had the right partner,” Boettiger, the STARS CEO, said.