Employer Honored; No Village Marketplace News

The family owners of Peterson Holding Company, the heavy equipment dealership on Marina Boulevard, were honored for their 75th anniversary at an otherwise uneventful City Council meeting Monday night.

On hand to accept the honor were company president Duane Doyle and his parents, Marion Jean and Bill Doyle.

Marion Jean is the daughter of now-deceased company founder Howard Peterson. (Read a Patch .)

Rumors persist that Peterson, which employs about 300 people in San Leandro, is considering moving out of its 20-acre site, which was once a tomato field.

Asked about this Monday night, Duane Doyle said the company has been approached many times over the past 15 years with offers to buy the property, but it has never acted on those offers and has nothing in the works now.

But such a large and centrally-located parcel is only likely to increase in value and Doyle did not permanently rule out a move.

Even so he said Peterson is deeply rooted here.

"I am relatively confident we will always have a presence in San Leandro," Doyle said.

Before the open City Council meeting, officials negotiated behind closed doors over the price and terms of selling the city-owned Albertson site on East 14th to developer David Irmer for his Village Marketplace project.

No public announcement came out of that meeting.

There has been an on Patch.

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