DETROIT—In the face of municipal bankruptcy and population loss,the Detroit office market, especially in the CBD, hasshown surprising strength. Even the suburbs havestarted to emerge from recessionary doldrums. But oneaspect of this revival that could play an even bigger role inthe future is the expansion of local high-tech firms.

“Automobiles are fast becoming high-tech pieces of equipment,”AJ Weiner, executive vice president ofJLL in the Detroit metro area, tells GlobeSt.com.Modern cars need far more powerful computers than even in therecent past, and amenities such as GPS satellite tracking arebecoming standard. Therefore, as the auto industry continues torecover from its own financial crisis, the Big Three automakers andtheir suppliers have been beefing up the tech sector.

According to a recent JLL study “the top 10 tech companies inDetroit recorded average revenue growth of 11.1% year-over-year in2013, giving reason to forecast even greater employment gains andspace needs over the coming year.” The top tech firms includeCompuware, Syntel, TataTechnologies and Netech.