Rosemarie Sansone has announced plans to retire, sparking a search for new leadership at the Downtown’s Business Improvement District (BID).

Sansone’s retirement was announced in a press release on January 13. She’ll step down from the position as president of the BID in February, leaving her responsibilities to Chief Financial Officer Rose Boardman and senior planner Anita Lauricella in the interim.

The BID board has already formed a committee to begin searching for her replacement.

Don Martelli, CEO of the Belfort Group marketing firm, worked with Sansone from well before her tenure with the BID. He said Sansone’s strengths were in the connections she was able to make between other people..

“I worked under her at the Suffolk University PR department back in the 1990s, and the BID hired my firm years ago,” he said. “She’s always had her finger on the pulse of Boston’s politics and business. She’s always connecting people that have mutual goals, moving things forward. Her energy and passion for the city is something I’ve seen since the very beginning.”

Her term lasted for 14 years, and saw the BID grow in scope while embracing a data-driven approach to problem solving. Sansone said her job today is fairly similar to when she started, although a couple programs stand out as particular points of pride.

“It’s been a wonderful, fascinating experience,” she said. ”We’ve added positions at the BID, and the data collection that we do has proven extremely important to our work. Our budgets for landscaping and outdoor furniture have increased. I’m very proud of our pop-up events and public demonstrations.”

The BID’s growth has been matched by the Downtown itself, revitalizing in recent decades under the care of civic and business groups.

“Her work at the BID has been so impressive. Downtown Boston wasn’t a desirable place back in the 80s and 90s, but the BID under Rosemarie’s direction has done a great job bringing programming and life back in. It’s connected to the rest of Boston now,” said Martelli. That growth has been something of a virtuous cycle. Sansone attributed much of the BID’s increased capacity to the revenue it’s gained as property values and commerce grew in the area under its care.

For the time being, she’s happy to relax. Sansone has been deeply involved in the Downtown for decades, and while she’s sure to maintain a presence in the community, she said she doesn’t have anything as impactful as leading the BID planned for the near future.

“For now, I’m just going to step back and see what unfolds. I don’t have any specific plans for after my retirement,” she said. “My time at the BID has been very personal for me. My roots in Downtown go way back, and so the opportunity to do this work at the end of my career was a real gift to me, in a place I’ve loved all my life.”