A top-ranked private university is raising its Sacramento profile, relocating its suburban campus to larger digs downtown.

The University of San Francisco in August will move classes from its existing campus near Arden Way and I-80 into a former state office building at the entrance to Downtown Plaza.

The Jesuit-affiliated school initially will keep its current enrollment of 250 students but will have room to expand to 500 or more, says Barbara Godoy, USF's local campus director.

"We'll be bringing in new programs we currently can't offer," she says, adding that details haven't been finalized.

Classes, held mostly in the evenings, are geared toward working professionals enrolled in 13 grad and undergrad programs.

The downtown campus will be especially convenient for students in USF's public administration programs.

"That's one of our bread-and-butter (programs), and most of those students work at the Capitol," Godoy says. "It will easier for them to come downtown for classes after work."

The campus relocation was cheered by Michael Ault, executive director of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership.

"This won't be the traditional, Monday-to-Friday, 8-to-5 crowd," he says. The USF students and faculty will "come later, stay later" – generating new demand for downtown restaurants and retailers.

It's also a lift for Rubicon Partners, the Sacramento firm that bought the five-story building at 630 K St. two years ago.

Most of the building is occupied by environmental consulting firm Jones & Stokes.

USF's arrival "will take us to 100 percent (occupancy) of the office space," says Rubicon principal Kipp Blewett.

Rodent ranchers

A North Sac "mouse house" is getting a big cash infusion for stem cell research.

Jackson Laboratory-West, an 85-employee operation, last week received a $3.4 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

"This allows us to move stem cell research forward at a much faster pace," said Leon Hall, the lab's program director.

Under the three-year grant, lab employees will take mice with little or no immune system and inoculate them with Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and other diseases.

Thousands of these "mouse models" will be supplied to researchers worldwide who are experimenting with stem cell therapies. Success at that level could lead to human trials.

Hall says other organizations are working on supplying mice for such research but haven't been as successful in eliminating the rodents' immune systems – a prerequisite to introducing human stem cells that won't be rejected.

Jackson, a Maine-based nonprofit, opened a small research facility in West Sac in 2001. It was moved late last year to a larger, undisclosed site in North Sacramento.

Moving to midtown

East Sac's Sweetwater Restaurant and Bar has found a new home.

Its owners recently signed a lease with developer Paul Petrovich to move into the former Fins Market & Grill location at 19th and S streets, across from a busy Safeway-anchored shopping center.

"We think it's a fantastic location in an up-and-coming neighborhood," says co-owner Brad Ross.

Ross says the "contemporary American" eatery will relocate from its current site at 5641 J St. on Sept. 1.

Some menu changes are planned but "we'll keep the same basic fare that people identify with Sweetwater."

Reach Bob Shallit at (916) 321-1049. Back columns: www.sacbee.com/shallit.