The office apocalypse narrative is getting a reality check from Wall Street’s largest property player. After a years-long, 50% to 70% decline in office valuations in prime markets, Blackstone’sBX

second-in-command, Jon Gray, declared that “office has bottomed” — projecting a rebound just as DeepSeek and a sovereign wealth fund get involved.

• In Manhattan’s Plaza District, Class A offices continue to outperform, now commanding rents four times higher than struggling properties — a driver behind Blackstone’s targeted $896M midtown purchase, down from its previous $1.25B valuation.
• Meanwhile, DeepSeek’s claim of delivering top-tier performance at a fraction of computing costs could reduce demand for data centers — potentially undermining Blackstone’s $80B data center portfolio.

The bigger picture: Blackstone isn’t alone in calling the bottom — Norway’s goliath sovereign wealth fund is quietly going all-in on US offices, deploying nearly $1B in December alone to take full ownership of eight prime properties across Boston, San Francisco, and DC. With 65% of companies returning to an office environment, Norway’s aggressive expansion, encompassing a flurry of deals last year, signals a broader belief that premium offices will thrive in the modern era — betting that “location, location, location” still matters when one-third of companies enforce five-day attendance.