Faithful readers, thank you, and Happy New Year!!! This is my first column of the New Year, and I am beyond excited because I truly believe that 2014 is going to be a year when we begin to feel “really good” on a consistent basis.

The era of the “choppy” recovery appears to be behind us, and the most compelling barometer of a real recovery is that development is not only back in vogue, but it is back in full swing—locally, nationally and globally. The crane is once again the city bird of New York, London, Miami, Seattle, and San Francisco, to name few major metros.

The big guns are back in the action as well. Carlyle just won approval for a $1.6-billion mixed-use office and residential project in London; Brookfield Properties is driving the Hudson Yards development and Qatar is on a rumble.