ANN ARBOR, Mich. — University of Michigan athletic director Bill Martin, who helped launch a pair of multimillion-dollar renovations to campus facilities and brought in new coaches for the football and men's basketball programs, will retire next year.

The 69-year-old Martin will step down effective Sept. 4, 2010, the school said Wednesday.

Martin, a former president of the United States Sailing Association, became director of athletics at Michigan in 2000 on an interim basis, replacing Tom Goss. His retirement was announced in a letter to university President Mary Sue Coleman and then at a meeting with athletics staff.

"Being the Michigan AD is not just a job, it's a way of life and one I have embraced full force," Martin wrote.

Martin said they had discussed his retirement for several years and he had agreed to remain while renovations to Michigan Stadium were ongoing. That project is scheduled to be finished by August 2010, and another major project, a $23.2 million basketball practice facility next to Crisler Arena, was approved in January by the Board of Regents.

Martin "stated that he had one more project left, and that was the Crisler Arena practice facility," said Bruce Madej, associate athletic director. "And that has been OK'd and voted on by the regents and is on its way."

Martin made several major hires during his tenure, including Rich Rodriguez to replace Lloyd Carr as football coach and John Beilein as basketball coach. Both Rodriguez and Beilein were hired in 2007 from West Virginia.

Several issues linger as Martin prepares to depart, including an internal investigation launched in August into allegations that the football program regularly violated NCAA rules limiting how much time players can spend on training and practice.

Coleman praised Martin's "outstanding leadership" and noted he had assembled a top-notch management team. She said he will remain until she and "a small advisory group" choose a successor, and then he will remain a special adviser to her until retiring in September.

Martin graduated in 1962 from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, and did graduate work at the University of Stockholm in Sweden and at Michigan. He and his wife, Sally, live in Ann Arbor and have two sons and three grandchildren.