How to check for a specific block type in ContentArea without loading content

I am searching for a way to check for the existence of a specific type of block in a content area. The presence of the block enables features in navigation, so this check is done on every page load. I want to avoid loading all of the content items in the ContentArea for performance reasons. I was hoping the ContentAreaItem or ContentReference for each item in the ContentArea.FilteredItems collection had some way to determine its destination content type. Any help would be appreciated.