Local politicians and hopefuls are already thinking about locating a university at the Weyerhaeuser campus in Federal Way, just days after the business announced it would relocate its headquarters to Seattle in 2016.

King County Councilman Pete von Reichbauer said with a proximity to Interstate 5 and Highway 167, Weyerhaeuser is an ideal site for a college campus.

His preference is for Central Washington University to potentially extend its profile in the Puget Sound region and have a branch campus in Federal Way. He said elected leaders should be proactive about finding a good mix of education and commercial development for the site.

“I don’t want a knee-jerk reaction,” von Reichbauer said. “We need to come together and figure out how to make this not just a five-year plan, but a 50-year plan or longer.”

Shari Song, the Democratic hopeful who is vying to replace retiring Sen. Tracey Eide in the 30th Legislative District Senate seat, also proposed for the state to explore using the Weyerhaeuser campus for higher education opportunities.

“People in South King County deserve to have higher education opportunities close to home,” said Song in a press release. “We have community colleges and vocational training, but no four-year degree option. When I’m in the Senate, I’ll direct the state to explore the feasibility of bringing a Washington State University or another state university branch campus to Federal Way at the Weyerhaeuser campus.”

Mark Miloscia, the Republican who is challenging Song, said he’s already had conversations with city officials about the idea. He also said the idea of bringing a college to Federal Way is “an issue that’s been bouncing around for two decades.”

While he said Song is “taking credit for the work of others,” Miloscia also said the idea of bringing a college campus to Federal Way is a “wonderful idea.”

However, it’ll take work, he said.

“This task for redeveloping the Weyerhaeuser property is too big for any one individual to go at it alone. We must build on the relationships and efforts already accomplished by our local leaders to find the best possible solution for the 430 acres being vacated,” he wrote in an email. “However, we need not just public investment but also private sector development.”

Miloscia said he will work with the Federal Way City Council, Greater Federal Way Chamber of Commerce and local education leaders to “explore all opportunities to bring good paying jobs back to our community.”

Federal Way leaders have for years explored the idea of bringing a college to the city.

And last month, the Federal Way City Council announced it was seeking to attract colleges and universities downtown. The Intellectual Innovation Zone initiative was spearheaded by Councilwoman Kelly Maloney, who said bringing colleges to Federal Way would also attract Fortune 500 companies and other businesses that want to work in concert with the colleges by hiring graduates from programs, such as research and development.

“I have been talking about this literally for years,” said Mayor Jim Ferrell, who noted that he has worked closely with Maloney on the initiative.

He said city leaders recently met with representatives from Washington State University and got some suggestions on how to proceed with attracting colleges. The Council and mayor have also had conversations with representatives from Central Washington University and Highline College.

There are many technicalities, such as conducting a needs assessment of the market, the city would have to wade through to bring a college here, he noted.

“If we’re going to have a branch campus, there’s a lot that goes in there in regards to state funding.”

Ferrell also said the Weyerhaeuser campus is an “ideal” location for a college.

“I like the idea of pursing and investigating whether what eventually occupies that space would be a higher education facility — that would dovetail the efforts that we’ve taken so far.”

Maloney agreed and said if all goes well, locating a college on the Weyerhaeuser campus would fit in with the Intellectual Innovation Zone.

“The initial concept was to locate the colleges in the downtown core to create synergy down there,” Maloney said. “That is still a good idea. But if Weyerhaeuser turns out to be a feasible location for this initiative, it could still create the economic development benefits that this initiative was created for. Everything’s on the table.”