Large business of the year: Basin Street Properties

March 15, 2006

By DANE GOLDEN
ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

Basin Street Properties is being honored as Large Business of the Year as part of the Petaluma Community Recognition Awards.

When informed that Basin Street was the being recognized, company president Matt White said, "My first reaction is I didn't know we were a large business. But that's great. To receive an award that says that what we have done has made a positive difference -- that means a lot."

White said he felt particularly honored because the award takes into account the company's work with non-profits. He said that community involvement was very important to Basin Street.

"I think that the thing that we're most proud of is giving back to the community through the different non-profit organizations like COTS and the Boys & Girls Club," he said. "It's kind of like this circle of life. As we have success as a business we're able to give back more to the community."

Basin Street will be honored along with other recipients at an awards dinner at the Sheraton Sonoma County-Petaluma on March 24. This is the fourth year for the awards, which are given by the Petaluma Chamber of Commerce and the Argus-Courier.

By any measure, 2005 was a big year for the Basin Street and its involvement in the Petaluma community. In May, the long-planned Boulevard Cinemas opened up as the anchor tenant in the acclaimed Theatre District redevelopment project that has reinvigorated Petaluma's downtown core.

There are, of course, many other local projects the company is involved with, including Basin Street Landing, the parking garage, Rivertown Apartments, and the Redwood Technology Center. Work continues apace on Theatre Square, and the company recently purchased the Golden Eagle Shopping Center.

Individually and as a company, White said, Basin Street is proud of their involvement with non-profits. The company has made notable recent contributions to several organizations, including a $50,000 pledge to Petaluma Valley Hospital, a $100,000 pledge to the new Tolay Lake Park, and $200,000 to St. Vincent kindergarten.

White sees Basin's Street's involvement with Petaluma, and for that matter any other community he works with, as a multi-dimensional proposition.

"My goal with any community we get involved with is to help make it a more well-rounded community, and well-rounded includes creating a place to shop, a place to eat, a place to live, a place to go to school, a place to do business -- everything you're able to do in a given day."

White said that the company works with non-profits with the same commitment to community. These can include groups that work to create places for children to play, such the Boys & Girls Club, or that help shelter homeless families, such as COTS.

(Contact Dane Golden at dgolden@arguscourier.com)