New apartments and hotels might be getting all the glory in Nashville real estate, but the industrial market has quietly heated up to be one of the most fully occupied in the U.S.

"Growth in Nashville’s manufacturing and warehousing sectors are driving continued expansion in the industrial real estate market," Cushman & Wakefield managing principal Doug Brandon said. Absorption outpaced construction last year to such an extent that the vacancy rate is well below a desirable range.

Indeed, according to Cushman & Wakefield data, Nashville has one of the tightest industrial markets in the country in terms of overall vacancy, coming in at 2.9%. Only a few other markets, all in California — LA, Orange County and East Bay/Oakland — are tighter.

Moreover, during Q4 2016, Nashville was among the top 10 strongest markets in terms of demand for industrial space. 2.5M SF was absorbed here during the quarter, less than a number of much larger markets, but for its size, a figure that demonstrates quite an appetite for space.

"It will take all the speculative space and more to keep pace with absorption over the last two years,” Brandon said.