Alibaba is Coming to Pasadena

TECH CORNER

Playhouse Plaza (Photo – Emmanuel Krauletz, Staff)

At the Playhouse District Association annual meeting this afternoon, David Saeta, IDS Senior Vice President, announced that Alibaba will be occupying the top floor of the Playhouse Plaza.

Alibaba is China’s (and possibly the world’s) biggest online commerce company with hundreds of millions of users. It became one of the most valuable tech companies in the world after raising $25 billion from its U.S. IPO, in addition of being one of the most valuable Chinese public companies.

It’s not clear if any of Alibaba’s current subsidiaries will be occupying the top floor of the newly built building on the corner of El Molino and Colorado Boulevard, or the new spin-off that the Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer, talked about this morning at the annual shareholders meeting.

A boost to the area

Mayor Terry Tornek speaking at the PDA annual meeting with former Mayor Bill Bogaard seen in the middle (Photo – Staff).

Alibaba move will highlight Pasadena’s presence as a tech hub much like Santa Monica, and to some extent, Silicon Valley. And With the new crop of techies emerging on the city, the night life at the Playhouse District (and other business districts) might get a boost from all techies’ social events and after-hours schmoozing.