Nashville’s skyline is known by many. It’s in art, logos, and even a Bob Dylan album. But it’s much more than just a pretty view.

Nashville’s skyline has changed over the years, and that’s a product of a great economy and an even greater real estate boom. According to Forbes, Nashville is one of the fast-growing cities in the United States. Our skyline is one of the most recognizable in the country (i.e. the AT&T “Batman” Building).

But how does an attractive skyline affect the market overall?

Well, in a short answer, it really doesn’t.

But that’s starting to change.

Bisnow reported, “Having a more prominent skyline also tends to make the metro more attractive to tech firms and the millennials they are trying to attract.” Millennials are interested in the aesthetic of a place. Sometimes the look is more important than money. A skyline is definitely an aesthetic quality millennials are looking towards when deciding to take their start-up tech firms to a city.

So although we aren’t seeing a massive shift to cities with a pretty skyline, we might see the opposite within the next 10 years.

So don’t be surprised to see younger companies coming to the Nashville skyline. Nashville has already seen this in the relatively young start-up in WeWork taking over a prominent skyline building.

In commercial real estate, our job is to make sure we are always expanding and growing our city, so more companies will want to come over time.

Nashville has been one of the fastest growing cities in the past 10 years, and it’s easy to track the progress by seeing the skyline over the years.

Bisnow also reported, “The reason for this may be in part because many millennials and Gen Xers are more attracted to live-work-play lifestyles, which are often located in CBDs (Central Building Districts).”

With it’s close proximity to Nashville, we see this growth happening in places like Germantown and East Nashville, where Millenials are flocking by the thousands. East Nashville and other areas next to Metro Downtown - Wedgewood-Houston - have seen a boom over the past few years. According to Inc., “Wedgewood-Houston remains a relative bargain as its ware­houses and factories--many colonized by artists--are redeveloped for office and residential use. This industrial neighborhood in transition includes some of the city's coolest co-working spaces and two craft distilleries--Corsair and Nashville Craft--along with Fort Houston, a large maker space.”

Nashville’s Commercial Real Estate market has never been better, as companies flock to the city, the downtown and surrounding markets remain ever-changing.

“Nashville’s current boom isn’t so much of a rebirth as it is a Renaissance,” writes Forbes. “Unlike many Midwestern cities that went bust along with the manufacturing industries that supported them, Nashville never hit rock bottom. The Cumberland River never caught on fire.”

Everyone wants to come to Nashville, and our real estate market has never done better. The skyline will only continue to expand as Nashville continues to break out of it’s “hee-haw” image and into a new, young “Silicon Valley-esque” reputation.

Want more numbers about the state of the market? Check out our Office Update for Q1 for 2019 here.