"Our own indicator here in this office indicates that Nashville will do better than most regions," Tom Frye says. "Our indicator is the number of calls I receive from either depressed or over-priced areas looking for development and investment opportunities. The call volume has moved up sharply throughout the year and it shows no signs of dissipating."

Among reasons for investor interest is the city's strong industrial market. With 1.1 million sf of positive absorption during the quarter and 3.2 million sf of positive absorption year-to-date, the vacancy rate was 5.9% and average asking rental rate was $3.79 per sf. New construction remains strong with 2.7 million sf under construction.

Among notable transactions during the quarter was a 300,000-sf lease at Rockdale Distribution Center II from newly constructed space by Wilson Sporting Goods Co. Wilson will ultimately expand to 575,000 sf and bring with it approximately 100 jobs.

"It is important to note that much of the positive absorption recorded for the quarter was from leases under 100,000 sf," the report states. "This is a good indicator that the market volume is steady."

Although the office market is not experiencing as much success as the industrial market, it is still posting positive numbers. According to a CB Richard Ellis Q3 office market report, there was 150,000 sf of positive absorption during Q3, the sixth consecutive quarter where absorption was in the six digits. However, the vacancy rate was 10.22%, the same rate it has been for the past three quarters. Average asking rental rates for the quarter were up 38 cents to $16.75 per sf.

"Nashville's office market will continue to benefit from positive job growth, with leasing activity expanding further south to Franklin and Murfreesboro," the report states. "The hotel and condo market in Downtown Nashville is certainly worth a mention as well. The proposed 18-story Westin hotel and condo complex on Lower Broadway and the multi-use Intercontinental Towers are two of the many recent projects that will begin the trend of live-work-play communities."