A kind of moonshot proposal to install a new University of California campus in downtown San Francisco — one of a number of ideas that have been thrown out there in the last year by the mayor to bring new life to downtown — has been declined by the university.

It's been almost a year since SF Mayor London Breed sent the University of California (UC) Regents a letter pleading with them to consider opening a satellite campus in the city's struggling downtown. Breed's proposal, which did not come with any specific real estate attached, suggested that the school could "alleviate some of [its] critical student housing shortfalls" by occupying some downtown buildings. And, she said, "Bringing students into the heart of San Francisco affords a set of remarkable opportunities."

In January, we learned that the UC Regents were considering the idea, but we don't know how seriously they were considering it. And late last week, the university issued a statement putting any speculation to bed about their near-term plans.

"Given the outlook for state appropriations and the financial capacity of our campuses, the university is not considering establishing any new campuses or other new facilities in the City of San Francisco at this time," said UC spokesperson Ryan King, speaking to the Chronicle.

Breed's spokesperson Jeff Cretan responded with a statement Monday, saying, "While we know they aren’t moving forward with a proposal at this time due to their budget situation, they’ve expressed interest in continuing the conversations in the future. This is a long-term effort and we will continue to engage with UC on opportunities that arise for them to participate in the future of downtown."

This was one of several ideas that Breed tossed out in which students would be a key to downtown revitalization. Breed also has an ongoing project, announced in February, to lure a historically Black college or university (HBCU), or multiple schools, to open a satellite campus here.

In April, Breed also talked about luring a Chinese university to do the same thing.

The HBCU program is in a kind of soft-launch now, as the Chronicle reports, with 60 students from 20 HBCUs arriving in the city last week for a summer program in which they will be studying downtown and working as interns for the city.

Previously: Mayor London Breed Hopes to Lure Historically Black Colleges to Downtown SF With New Program

Photo: Kenniku Tolato