In Nashville, the industrial market growth continues unabated. The market currently has 3.5 million square feet under construction, of which nearly 80% is speculative. At the heart of this economic growth is e-commerce.

“Nashville is strategically located and has become an integral part of supply chain logistics serving the eastern United States,” says Sue Earnest, an Avison Young principal in Nashville.

In the last five years, the market's industrial asking rental rates rose 57%, the largest of all commercial sectors in Nashville. “While the statistics may not show it yet, we're finding some landlord's more negotiable on rates and/or incentives — a sign that the pace of rising rental rates may be beginning to plateau,” Earnest says

The Indianapolis industrial market has been a hot distribution hub or several years and is continuing to expand, adding nearly 7.4 million square feet to the market over the past 12 months, through the first quarter of 2018. There also is more than 5.2 million square feet in the pipeline, signaling developers' confidence in the market to continue to attract national and regional e-commerce and corporate distribution tenants.

However, there is concern that a shortage
of skilled labor could restrict growth in the industrial sector. State officials have responded with a $1 billion workforce development program to counteract the labor shortage. With a low 2.9% vacancy rate in the first quarter, Indianapolis has 5.2 million square feet of industrial product under construction.