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What happens to old Weyerhaeuser headquarters?

Federal Way Mayor Jim Ferrell says he wasn't taken by surprise by Weyerhaeuser's announcement that its headquarters is moving to Seattle in 2016.

But, he told KIRO 7 on Friday "We would have appreciated a little more heads up." 

The city got just two hours' notice before Tuesday's announcement.

Now he's focused on finding a new buyer for the 430-acre campus, and the unique headquarters building nestled into the woods.

"There's been a lot of discussion talking about an institution of higher education, a college there, be it a branch campus or maybe a technical college," the mayor told us.

But the King County assessor values the headquarters building alone at $40 million, not counting the remainder of the campus. It might be too expensive to fit into tight education budgets.

"We're also looking to actively market this to Fortune 100 and 500 companies to essentially replace what was the footprint of Weyerhaeuser," Farrell said.

The mayor says he can see a facility for companies like Google or Apple that may want to take advantage of the regional talent pool.

But, as always in real estate, the best selling point may be the site's location.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Jim Reinhardsen of Seattle's Heartland LLC is the broker in charge of marketing the campus.  He told us the size of the parcel and its central location make it uniquely attractive.

It's just 10 miles from the Port of Tacoma, 12 miles from SeaTac Airport and 23 miles from the Port of Seattle. The city is already getting interested calls from around the country.

Click here to see the detailed information potential buyers are getting.

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