ATLANTA—No one would argue that the Great Recession hit the Southeast, and particularly Atlanta, hard. While California and Texas were among the first to recuperate and launch new construction, the Southeast was the slowest to recover.

“The area has recovered nicely over the past two to three years and is seeing strong population growth, job growth and business expansions and relocations like the recently announced Mercedes headquarters relocation from New Jersey,” Mark Dishaw, senior vice president of Trammell Crow Company's Atlanta Business Unit, tells GlobeSt.com. “Georgia and the Atlanta metro area have been steadily growing and there are now more than 5 million people in the metro Atlanta area. It's a great place to do business.”

Dishaw is taking a close look at industrial. His research shows Atlanta is the fourth-largest industrial market in the country.