Blackstone snaps up Paris Centre d'Affaires for €700M - 41,000 sqm office plus 57 luxury apartments

Blackstone (NYSE: BX) has agreed to buy a landmark office block in central Paris for roughly €700 million - about $819 million - in one of the biggest single-building European office deals since the pandemic shook up workplaces.

The asset is the historic Centre d'Affaires in the Trocadéro area: roughly 41,000 square metres of office space plus 57 high-end apartments, on-site catering and cafés. The seller was German investor Union Investments, which reportedly paid €284 million for the building back in 2003. Multiple bidders competed for the trophy, including U.S. property investor Hines, according to people familiar with the sale.

The purchase price shows there's renewed appetite for top-tier urban offices, at least at the very top end of the market. Office values took a hit after COVID-19 as remote work cut demand; while return-to-office rules and hybrid arrangements have nudged activity back up, large trophy transactions have stayed relatively rare - making this one notable.

James Seppala, who runs Blackstone's European real estate business, framed the deal as a vote of confidence in prime office stock in major cities. The firm is buying a mixed-use building in a prestigious location, an asset class that combines stable office tenancy with residential and hospitality-style amenities - a configuration that's been gaining traction with big institutional buyers.

Timing: the deal is slated to close in the fourth quarter of 2025. On the market side, Blackstone's stock was slightly softer around the announcement, moving roughly in line with the broader U.S. market.

For anyone tracking commercial real estate flows, this one's a clear signal: capital is still chasing high-quality, centrally located buildings that offer a mix of income streams. Whether that narrows yields across other European gateways or simply stays confined to trophy assets will be one of the next things to watch.

Deal snapshot: price €700 million (~$819 million); size ~41,000 sqm; includes 57 luxury apartments; expected close Q4 2025.