KNOXVILLE RANKED AS A “MILLENNIAL MAGNET” BY USA TODAY

KNOXVILLE RANKED AS A “MILLENNIAL MAGNET” BY USA TODAY

High national rankings keep rolling into Knoxville.  USA Today recently put Knoxville on its list of “Millennial Magnets”, a list ranking cities that have more 20-somethings than teens. These cities—rooted in high education, technology and development—are serving as new kinds of cities, born from deep demographic shifts and built from the power of technology. Knoxville, like many of the other cities listed, were traditional college towns that attracted students who then left after graduation for work. However, Knoxville has become a post-college town.

The region has long been known as ‘Innovation Valley’ by regional economic development agencies due to the concentration of scientific and technological assets that surround the area, as well as business sustainability efforts. The availability of high wage jobs for educated individuals at places like Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Y-12 National Security Complex, The University of Tennessee and numerous recession-proof healthcare industries surround the area make those that come for an education more likely to stay.

Ranked 6th by Forbes magazine among Best cities for Jobs, the area is #1 in green job growth according to the Brookings Institute. By combining technological resources with the Knoxville area’s central location, the region is competing for top level jobs and job creators in the expanding green industry.

According to the ACCRA cost of living Index, Knoxville’s cost of living is well below the national average, and either competitive with or lower than each of its southeastern competing cities like Memphis, Nashville, Charlotte, Raleigh, and Columbia.

These things, combined with a thriving cultural, educational and recreational landscape make Knoxville a major player as a growing city full of future business leaders.

Student of the (CRE) Game

The largest gains in the commercial real estate market in Knoxville over the past year have been in multi-family.  More specifically, in student housing.

Projects are popping up all over downtown and west Knoxville with a focus on Fort Sanders and now Sutherland Ave.

In 2013, Rick Gentry, Cushman & Wakefield | Cornerstone's multi-family specialist, closed two of the largest student housing transactions in the market.  He talked to WBIR about the explosion in the segment.


Student-housing Explosion in Knoxville

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