By Sabina Mollot, Town & Village, and Roland Li

Lawmakers in Albany have agreed to extend for four years rent regulations affecting over 1 million apartments in New York, while increasing the threshold for deregulation. Apartments that exceeded $2,500 in monthly rent would be deregulated, up from $2,000. Tenants earning $200,000 or more each year would be excluded from the regulations, which restrict annual rent increases, up from a previous limit of $175,000 a year. However, there will be no change to vacancy decontrol under the final agreement, reversing an April vote by the Democrat-controlled Assembly. Read more...

The retail transactions that brought Filene’s Basement and Syms to Fifth Avenue at 44th Street and Fairway to East 86th Street took home the coveted top honors as the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) presented its 2010 Retail Deal of the Year Awards. The annual prizes recognize the city’s most creative and significant retail deals. Robin Abrams and Howard Dolch of The Lansco Corporation won the Most Creative Retail Deal of the Year for the Filene’s deal. Read more...

By Roland Li

The Vilcek Foundation, which promotes awareness of U.S. immigrants in the sciences, arts and culture, has purchased 21 East 70th Street for $15.5 million, according to city records. Officials at Vilcek declined to comment. The Foundation is currently located at 167 East 73rd Street, a building it purchased for $6.9 million in 2006, according to city records. Read more...

Eastern Consolidated is marketing Extell Development Co.’s 95-year leasehold interest in a Hudson Square development site at 68-74 Charlton Street for $45 million. Eastern Consolidated’s Brian Ezratty, vice chairman, is the listing broker. Extell had plans to construct a 35-story, 181,000-square-foot luxury hotel on the site, known as 61-63 Vandam Street. Read more...

By Liana Grey

Ron Goss barely had time to rest after returning from a trip to Moscow last Wednesday. The next day, the president of the Institute of Real Estate Management was on a plane to Orange County, California, where he met with members of a local chapter. “We deal with issues they want to talk about it, the problems they have,” Goss said. During his visit to Russia, Goss spoke with property managers struggling to maintain their portfolios following the global downturn. Read more...