This will be a good year! Looking ahead to lucky 2013

Happy 2013! I hope the first three weeks of the year have already proven to be exciting and profitable! Despite some extraordinary challenges to our city and the surrounding areas, particularly in the second half of 2012, I do believe this year will be a good one. Wall St., which drives so much of our economy, should remain strong if all in Washington do their jobs (a big "if," I know, but I'm the eternal optimist!). As those insurance and government checks come in to our area, we'll continue to rebound from Sandy. Holiday sales overall were fairly strong given the difficulties of last year, so that does mean that the local consumer was willing to spend-to a degree. That means great numbers at home improvement, furnishings and electronics stores in the not-too-distant future. Employment continues to recover, and all of those tourists continue to come from around the globe! So it should be a good year for New York's economy. And of course we have several new retail projects under way: both Brookfield Place/World Financial Center and the World Trade Center shopping complex continue apace. The Howard Hughes Corp. is continuing its redevelopment of Pier 17. I'm anxious to see what will come of the retail at Hudson Yards. Brooklyn is a hotbed of activity, from the Barclays Center area to Fulton St. to Bushwick. And really, is it 2018 yet, so I can finally shop a Manhattan Nordstrom? All of these projects will bring more ancillary retail, dining and more, adding to the excitement of the city! This year already is proving to be a busy one in terms of new stores, new locations and expansions. Jeremy Argyle's menswear has debuted at 321 Bleecker St. Madrid's Uno de 50's accessories (only 50 are made of each style) are now at 135 Prince St. Happy Socks comes from Sweden to its first store at 436 West Broadway. Balenciaga is popping up at 138 Wooster St. Accessories retailer Synchronicity is coming to 179 Orchard St. Menswear and accessories from Turkey's Sarar have come to 50 Broad St. Joie will open its third city store at 429 West 14th St. Look for another Comme des Garçons outpost at 160 Lexington Ave. in December. Proenza Schouler will open its second New York store in Soho, likely on Greene St. Lord & Taylor will expand its shoe department in a major way this year. Inglot has added an Artist Loft to its location at 75 Ninth Ave. Bookstore/art gallery Karma is relocating to 39 Great Jones St. Clearly, there already is a lot going on. And for an even more in-depth analysis of the local real estate scene, join us at NYCREW Network's "Global Real Estate Trends in 2013," our now-traditional preview of the year ahead on January 29th from 6 to 8 p.m. at the offices of UBS Financial Services, 1285 Avenue of the Americas. Once again, Dennis Yeskey, founder and managing partner of Yeskey Real Estate Consulting and Investments, and Jonathan Woloshin, co-head of sector research for UBS will discuss the trends affecting commercial real estate in New York City, nationally and globally. This session is a must for all looking to succeed in real estate in 2013. For more information, visit www.nycrew.org. Happy Shopping! Faith Hope Consolo is the chairman, The Retail Group, Douglas Elliman Real Estate, New York, N.Y.