This new 4000-square-foot facility for Jeff Leech Family Dentistry in Murfreesboro is expected to be completed in the Spring.
You don’t have to look too far into Rutherford County’s history to remember when it was a sleepy little college town. Some called it a “suitcase community.” Fifty years ago, fewer than 60,000 people lived here. But that number has rapidly risen, and in the past two decades, the population has nearly doubled from 182,000 in 2000 to nearly 325,000 last year.
If researchers at the University of Tennessee’s Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research are correct, the growth here isn’t going to slow down anytime soon. They predict that by 2040, the region’s population will explode to more than 505,000.
In fact, they anticipate that Rutherford County—currently the fifth largest county in Tennessee—will leap-frog Hamilton County by 2026 and Knox County by 2050 to become the third largest county in the state. Tennessee is expected to grow by more than 1 million people in the next 20 years, and researchers at the Boyd Center expect more than half of that growth to be in Middle Tennessee counties such as Davidson, Williamson, Wilson, Sumner, and Rutherford.
Niche.com, a website that “connects people to their future schools, neighborhoods, and workplaces” ranks Rutherford County as:
- #2 for families in Tennessee
- #3 for best public schools in Tennessee
- #3 best place to live in Tennessee
- #4 best place for Young Professionals in Tennessee
Recently, a group from All Home Connections released the top Google searches involving the phrase “Should I” in each state. People in Pennsylvania wondered, “Should I break up with my boyfriend/girlfriend?” Folks in Alabama, Louisiana and Missouri asked Google if they should go on a diet. Texans’ and Floridians’ top searches involved joining the military. Do you know what Tennesseans asked?
“Should I buy a house?”
The phrase is indicative of the growth here, and that growth is driving up the prices of homes and land. According to Zillow, the “home value index” (the company’s median estimate valuation for a given geographic area on a given day) for Murfreesboro has skyrocketed by $85,000 in the past five years. In December of 2014, it was $161,000. It is currently $246,000. While that number is impressive, Rutherford County remains a bargain, as its home value index is still lower than neighboring Davidson, Williamson and Wilson counties.
What does this mean for a company looking to build in Rutherford County?
The answer is that companies should seize this opportunity, says Dow Smith, President and Owner of Dow Smith Company.
“Now is the perfect time to invest in real estate and to build here. Your investment will pay off in Rutherford County.”
Dow Smith Company approaches every project with a single objective: to do what is best and right for our client. Our firm specializes in commercial, healthcare and church construction projects, ranging from ground-up construction to renovations and additions. We have worked with hundreds of commercial businesses, churches and medical facilities in the Middle Tennessee area.
Many of our clients are expanding to serve the needs of our booming community. Murfreesboro Medical Center (MMC), for example, has expanded its services to The Fountains at Gateway on Medical Center Parkway and has recently opened a new facility on Shelbyville Pike.
“As an organization, we see the tremendous growth occurring in our community and realize that we must continue to grow our physician population and our facilities to maintain appropriate health care services.”
Dhar Family Medicine & Audiology Consultants recently relocated to its new facility at 1702 Rock Springs Road in Smyrna, Tennessee. Dow Smith handled the design and construction of the new medical facility.
Recently, Dhar Family Medicine & Audiology Consultants held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new office, which was designed and built by Dow Smith Company. It was one of more than 100 ribbon-cutting ceremonies held by the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce this year. Last year, the Chamber held 111 ribbon-cuttings – an average of more than two per week.
In October, the Chamber’s Kelli Beam told TV station WKRN, “We are on target to hold more ribbon-cuttings, celebrations or ground breakings than we have ever held.”
In the same story, Patrick Cammack, senior vice president of economic development at the Chamber, said he believes the county is growing so quickly because of several factors:
- Cost of living
- Quality of life
- Great schools
Cammack told WKRN the area is preparing for more mixed-use development “as more employers choose to be closer to their employees. This could come as a mix of co-working spaces, satellite offices or larger headquarters buildings.”
He added, “You already seeing more headquarters and corporate operations look to our region and our county.”
“We are seeing a lot of businesses looking to invest in their own facility, rather than lease,” notes Dow, “and others looking to expand their facilities to serve the growing communities in Rutherford County. We are skilled at shepherding businesses and organizations through the pre-construction process (site selection, budgeting, scheduling and permitting) when they contact us in the early stages.”
“Dow Smith delivers such an exceptional product and are easy to work with. Because we have had such a good experience with them, they have an understanding of what we like, what we want, and what we are looking for in our facilities,” adds Peay.
