Boyle bets on Nashville office market

NASHVILLE -- Memphis-based Boyle Investment Co. is helping lead a budding construction upturn in the Interstate 65 corridor south of Nashville.

Boyle recently began the area's first speculative office building since 2006, although analysts figure a construction boom is at least a year off.

"There's going to be a breakout, but not this year," Tom Frye, managing director of CB Richard Ellis' Nashville office, told the Nashville Ledger.

Boyle's seven-floor building is part of the company's Meridian development near Cool Springs Mall in Williamson County. The 177,577-square-foot building and neighboring 15,000-square-foot building are both scheduled for summer completion.

"We all felt that if a corporate headquarters wanted to come to Williamson County, there were not any large office blocks available," Boyle spokesman Shelby Larkin said.

"Although it's risky, it's a calculated risk," Larkin added. "We do have some leases signed (and) we feel strongly about the Williamson County economy."

Even though speculative building had cooled off at Cool Springs, companies continue to move there.

Cool Springs and nearby Brentwood reported a vacancy rate of 6.1 percent, according to an end-of-2011 market survey by CB Richard Ellis. Only the West End-Belle Meade area in Nashville has a lower vacancy rate.

Nashville's overall office market, as measured by the firm's survey, had a vacancy rate of 12.7 percent at the end of last year.

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Boyle bets on Nashville office market