BY ROBERT KNAKAL

As the year draws to a close, I usually dole out holiday wishes for those who are either directly or indirectly related to the commercial real estate industry in New York City.

However, in a year in which politics has been such a central theme, this year’s focus will take stock of how our elected officials have performed and what Santa should give them.

Congress: To members of Congress, I wish you the ability to see things clearly and not through partisan eyes. Revenue as a percentage of GDP is as low as it has been in generations, and spending as a percentage of GDP is equally high. All the talk recently has been about increasing the tax rate on high income earners. This will produce about $60 billion a year when solving for trillions is needed. Revenue needs to be increased and spending needs to be tangibly cut, particularly on entitlements over the long-term. Without this you are simply moving the parsley from one side of the plate to the other.

I also wish member of Congress the foresight to keep charitable deductions intact. Without them, they are saying the government should take control of providing most of the services needed by U.S. citizens in need. The government is so inefficient and unable to competitively run just about anything, but particularly programs like these; this would be a disaster.

After all, local government in New York ran the only bookie joint in the history of the world that went bankrupt (Off-Track Betting, ahem). Now, Governors Christie and Cuomo have asked for $80 billion in Sandy relief, and Congress is arguing over a lesser $60 billion package loaded with allocations for things like repairing roof damage at the Smithsonian which occurred before the storm, the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and cars for Homeland Security. If the government ran funeral parlors, no one would die.

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BY SAM CHANDAN

If a new president or rebounding economy was on your holiday wish list last year, 2012 left you empty-handed. On the political and economic fronts, remarkably little has changed.

November’s election confirmed the status quo in the House, Senate and White House. That augurs slow progress on the central questions of spending and tax reform but also safeguards the administration’s chief accomplishments, including the expansion of health care coverage.

Facing headwinds from policy gridlock, middling consumer activity and developments abroad, businesses approached hiring and other investments cautiously over the last year. Weak job creation proved a remarkably consistent source of frustration. The unemployment rate fell by 100 basis points over the last year, but the tally of net new jobs showed no improvement from 2011. Ever a deceptive measure, the falling unemployment rate captured that Americans opting out of the workforce matched Americans finding work nearly one-for-one. For too many American families, the recovery is too long in coming.

chandan silo for webIn spite of the recalcitrant challenges to the recovery, there have been some clear improvements that position us for stronger gains over the next year. For a moment, assume the fiscal cliff is resolved in favor of extending tax cuts. Remembering why the sequestration deadline was ever set, we have failed to address the larger threat to our economy’s long-term health but have also agreed to forgo the consequences we set for ourselves.

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BY BILLY GRAY

A 10,000-square-foot supermarket will open in the Tompkinsville neighborhood of Staten Island, filling a void for locals accustomed to traveling for their basic groceries needs.

The Fine Fare Marketplace signed a lease last week with Meadow Partners, the real estate investment and asset manager that received a $24 million loan in October to refinance 155 Bay Street, where the market will be located. Fine Fare is expected to open in April.

Residents of Tomkinsville and neighboring St. George are currently underserved when it comes to grocery stores. There are two large options--a 33,250-square-foot Western Beef and slightly smaller Waldbaums--but the area is otherwise dotted with small delis.

Fine Fare will take up the ground floor of 155 Bay Street, a 57-unit condominium building. The chain, which include butchers, fishmongers and bakeries in addition to reasonably priced groceries and prepared foods, has 60 locations throughout New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Fine Fare's nearest direct competitor--a 12,000-square-foot Key Foods--is 1.8 miles away in West Brighton.

BY BILLY GRAY

Fusion Learning, Inc. closed on 8,270 square feet at 450-460 Park Avenue South. It is the first Manhattan location for Fusion, the Western Association of Schools & Colleges accredited tutoring facility.

Jovani Rampersad, the commercial leasing director for the Moinian Group represented the owner. Deb van der Hayden and Noah Savage of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the tenant. Fusion currently has 12 locations through northern and southern California and one other New York location, on Long Island. The Manhattan location on Park Avenue between 30th and 31st Streets puts it within easy reach of the many tech companies that have flooded into Midtown South in recent years.

The company will take up an entire floor of the 12-story building. In October, OfficeLinks, and office space and meeting facility provider, inked a deal for 14,000 square feet of office space at 450-460 Park Avenue, a Class-A building owned by Moinian.