In the News: Bozeman Daily Chronicle: Daines behind-the-scenes on transferring Babcock Post Office to Bozeman

• July 30, 2026

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Steve Daines spoke with the Bozeman Daily Chronicle about the recent transfer of the Historic Bozeman Federal Building to city management. Read highlights below.

Daines behind-the-scenes on transferring Babcock Post Office to Bozeman: Federal Building's future was years in the making, senator says

Bozeman Daily Chronicle

July 29^th, 2026

Dan Astin

Montana U.S. Senator Steve Daines said efforts to address the future of the Bozeman Federal Building housing the Babcock Post Office were underway for nearly two years.

On Wednesday, Daines revealed to the Chronicle his office worked behind the scenes with city and federal officials for years on a potential transfer of the Federal Building to municipal ownership. What began as an effort for the city to obtain a large parking area adjacent to the building turned into transferring ownership of the entire complex, per Daines.

"This started nearly two years ago," Daines said, referring to a Bozeman meeting initiated by city officials and Main Street area business leaders, originally attempting to solve a lack of downtown parking.

Daines first approached Ed Forst, administrator for the General Services Administration, the government's real estate management arm, which later announced plans to sell the Bozeman Federal Building on July 23.

"GSA is taking decisive action to offload properties that don't align with the government's real estate needs," Forst said in a news release previously emailed to the Chronicle. "Disposing of the Bozeman Federal Building will reduce costs for American taxpayers by opening the property to new investment while benefiting the community."

No future use or owner for the property was publicly identified. Daines recalled broaching the building with Forst.

"I said, 'We'd like to find a way to make sure that we can keep that precious ground that's so badly needed for downtown Bozeman,'" Daines said. "This thing was worked on for about a year and a half, and then that's when we got word just within the last two weeks that the GSA is planning to put the property under disposal status."

Federal building disposal status is when a government-owned property is removed from the federal inventory. Via excess designation, property ownership can be transferred or it can be listed for public sale.

"The federal government is going to be open to transferring it to different ownership," Daines said. "That ownership will be the city of Bozeman."

Read the full article HERE.

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