For its first acquisition as a REIT, United Realty Trust recently bought an alternative multifamily property--the 117-unit, 86k SF Tilden House at 2520 Tilden Ave in East Flatbush--for $22.9M. (Our first major purchase was a Blues Traveler CD. They too were alternative.) Besen & Associates' Greg Corbin, who with colleague Amit Doshi (above) repped the buyer and the seller, tells us the Department of Homeless Services' tenancy boosted the value and cap rate. NYC has a triple-net lease (reducing the owners' management costs), and Highland Park Development, a transitional housing operator for families in need runs the property.

Amit says the deal did involve risk, as the City is the sole tenant, but the Department of Homeless Services is a fan of the '04 building, which has a private bath in each unit (studios and one-bedrooms). He adds that the city needs properties like this, considering the skyrocketing number of people in the shelter system, more than 46,000 as of this past fall. United Realty has the right to convert the use in 2021 and again in 2026.