It could give indications of projects to be backed in next month's state budget.

City Deals - first developed in Britain by groups of councils - are seen by analysts as the newest form of long-term funding agreements between Australia's three levels of governments.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has already signed off on three City Deals: Townsville (December 2016), Launceston (September 2016) and Western Sydney (October 2016).

Each of these City Deals is a 10 to 15 years funding deal, attracting up to $200 million.

The City Deals mean hundreds of millions of dollars from three levels of government are directed towards priority projects, which are formally agreed to in memorandums of understanding.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk signed a general memorandum of understanding with Mr Turnbull in November 2016 to develop "tailored City Deals" for Queensland cities.

Now Cr Quirk, as chair of Queensland's Council of Mayors (SEQ), is set to "imminently" sign up Australia's fourth City Deal.

"The Commonwealth's budget commitment to develop a City Deals strategy for SEQ is a positive step forward," Cr Quirk said on Wednesday.

"The SEQ mayors would like to see a signed letter of intent between the federal government, Queensland government and the Council of Mayors (SEQ) once this strategy is agreed, with a view to commencing an SEQ City Deal in 2018."

Cr Quirk's comments follow a soft announcement in Tuesday night's federal budget where $100 million loan was provided for the University of Sunshine Coast's new Moreton Bay university campus.

Cities Minister Angus Taylor - responsible for running the City Deals program - on Wednesday night said his office was already working with the Council of Mayors.

"The Commonwealth has already been in touch with representatives from the Queensland Government and the South East Queensland Council of Mayors to invite them to work with the Commonwealth to identify city deal opportunities in South East Queensland," his spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

Cr Quirk quickly jumped on the announcement saying it could be a "game-changer" for infrastructure funding in south-east Queensland.

"The Commonwealth's commitment to developing a City Deals strategy for SEQ is the first step in securing a comprehensive and long term plan to fund and deliver infrastructure in this region," he said.

"While we've currently only seen the City Deals model used on a smaller scale in Australia, the strong regional collaboration that exists in this region and the size and capability of our councils makes this the ideal location to establish a regional SEQ City Deal."

Deputy Premier Jackie Trad welcomed the move as the "first comprehensive step towards a Southeast Queensland City Deal."

"This commitment towards a strategy recognises the significant work already undertaken by the Palaszczuk Government, with SEQ Mayors, towards a City Deal that will grow jobs and infrastructure for our region," Ms Trad said.

"However, a cornerstone of the SEQ City Deal is prioritisation of key infrastructure required to support growth."

"What is needed is the underpinning infrastructure, and most importantly Cross River Rail."

The City Deals model began in Manchester in 2012 where a group of councils banded together to formally lobby their national government for infrastructure funds.

There are now 20 City Deals in the United Kingdom including Bristol, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Cambridge and the three City Deals in Australia.

They are signed as a contract between the region and the three levels of government and the region receives a share of additional money generated from improved land values and rates.

In Australia, City Deals are supported by Property Council of Australia and KPMG.

Toowoomba mayor Paul Antonio - who asked for new Brisbane to Toowoomba passenger rail line services on top of the new Melbourne to Toowoomba to Brisbane freight line given $8.4 billion in Tuesday's federal budget - said a regional City Deal deserved exploration.

"Local government around Australia, not just Toowoomba, is not in such a good space when you look at the money that comes our way from the total tax take," he said.

"... We clearly need another means of funding communities like Toowoomba that are growing rapidly, placing demands on us in terms of enabling infrastructure."

Meanwhile, the federal government confirmed the Queensland government would need to apply to the new $10 billion National Rail Program in order to secure funding for the long-awaited $5.4 billion underground Cross River Rail project in next year's federal budget.

The number of commuters using the inner-city rail link were tipped to double in 10 years.

Final documentation of the changes to the route of the underground rail project have only recently been finalised, although a business case was given to the federal government last year.