Larry Marantette, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Downtown Partnership, is stepping down. He signed up for a three-year stint four years ago, when the office was created, but said he wanted to make sure the ball kept rolling once he left."When Mayor Dennis Archer came into office, he officially declared the city open for business, and began the Partnership to create the context for bringing in investment to rebuild Downtown," says Marantette "In the last four years, we've been able to bring $4 billion in investment into the core of the city."

Projects brought in include the $550 million Compuware headquarters, going in at the large, mixed-use Campus Martius project in the Necklace District Downtown. He said the Partnership plans are made on a two or three year basis and he wanted to leave knowing funding was in place."We're now funded for the next three years, and have a work program that has a very solid foundation. It's a good time for me to go back to the private sector," he said.

Marantette, 50, was formerly president of the ANR Real Estate Group, part of ANR Pipeline Co. He has not announced when he will be leaving or where he will go, but says that someone should be in place to succeed him by the first of the year. A search committee has been formed to find his successor.