Carlyle To Buy Distressed Apartments

File under: "Buying while there is blood in the streets."

GFI Capital Resources Group and The Carlyle Group formed a $300 million joint venture to buy distressed residential apartment buildings, said Michael Weiser, executive vice president of acquisitions and dispositions at GFI, a Manhattan-based diversified real estate company.

The venture will leverage that cash to buy $1.2 billion worth of properties.

Weiser said the driving force of the venture was to capitalize on the deteriorating real estate market which is forcing some owners to sell buildings at deep discounts. He says GFI has a history of buying buildings in down markets.

“There is going to be a lot of opportunity out there,” said Weiser.