If you want to write the opposite article, pick any three wildly successful companies. They've all grown enough that they've had to move into a new building. Pick a project that went well around the time of the move; they're big enough that there must be at least one. Now, attribute causation and come up with some pithy bullet points. Ta-da! You've got yourself a wsj article.
This isn't a random WSJ article; it's a Steve Blank article. That doesn't matter except that your "ta-da!" probably doesn't generate credible Steve Blank articles.
You also haven't contradicted Blank. He didn't say companies shouldn't ever transition out of their startup phase; he just said that the purchase of an optimal new building signals that transition. The implication is that you should be sure you're ready for it.
For startups. Not in general. It helps to have read Blank's other work about the phases companies go through; startups to him are companies still working on optimizing their product/market fit.
I don't think he'd be against moving into a new generic office space. He's against letting the new building define who the company is, and take away time and energy. Just moving to another strip mall might not cause that problem! :)
A new building can cause a CEO to take his eye off the ball and can contribute to changing the company's culture. It resonated with me because I've seen it happen time and again.
It doesn't mean it will always happen. But I'd wager those company's who successfully moved into a new building spent considerable time focused on having it not happen to them.
If you want to write the opposite article, pick any three wildly successful companies. They've all grown enough that they've had to move into a new building. Pick a project that went well around the time of the move; they're big enough that there must be at least one. Now, attribute causation and come up with some pithy bullet points. Ta-da! You've got yourself a wsj article.