Sujal Patel and EMC's Joe Tucci with Mayor Mike McGinn.

Isilon Systems, getting comfortable in its new digs in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood, said today that it plans to add 200 more workers locally over the next 15 months. The company has 430 people in Seattle currently, and 800 companywide.

The data storage company says the growth will represent a 75 percent increase in employment in Seattle since it was acquired by EMC Corp. for $2.25 billion in December 2010. The company had experienced a comeback under the leadership of Isilon co-founder Sujal Patel.

Speaking at the company’s new headquarters, Patel said he’s excited to be in Pioneer Square because the neighborhood has the energy the company looks for in new staffers. People want to be in a neighborhood where there’s life, Patel said, calling it an “ideal place.”

The 6th floor lobby at the new Isilon offices in Seattle

Isilon is one of a number of tech companies moving into the historic Seattle neighborhood, sparking hopes for a Pioneer Square renaissance. Even though several retailers have closed up shop in recent years, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn said he believes the ingredients are in place to make Pioneer Square a 24-hour neighborhood.

Isilon has big plans to grow its staff, Patel said. The company currently has 140,000 square feet of space, room for 690 workers. But even that might not be enough to meet the needs of EMC Isilon in the coming years, with Patel saying that “more space is already on our mind.”

EMC Chairman and CEO Joe Tucci is visiting Isilon and Seattle today, and will give an address this afternoon at the UW Computer Science and Engineering Department’s Industrial Affiliates meeting this afternoon.

EMC now employs about 700 people in the region. The new office will mostly be devoted to Isilon, which is growing at an annual clip of 100 percent. But some functions from other parts of EMC — a storage giant with a market value of $49 billion — may be housed in the new building as well, said Tucci.

Also on GeekWire: Seattle’s Pioneer Square has tech, needs tribeEMC boss Joe Tucci loves being in the backyard of Amazon and Microsoft

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