Utah Senator Mike Curtis and Senator Chris Van Hollen introduced legislation on Aug. 7, 2026, to utilize United States Postal Service properties for housing development to combat the national affordable housing crisis. The bill aims to strengthen the USPS by leveraging its real estate portfolio to generate new revenue streams, addressing a financial struggle that has persisted for decades.
Addressing Dual National Crises
The legislative effort follows a May 15, 2026, report from the Brookings Institution that identified significant potential for housing production on postal land. That report noted that the United States is currently facing a severe housing supply shortage and proposed a strategy to use the USPS's real estate to address both the housing crisis and the agency's fiscal sustainability.
Housing Production Potential
Analysis from the Brookings Institution indicates that redeveloping underutilized postal sites could produce up to 237,000 housing units nationwide. Of those projected units, approximately 117,000 are located in high- or medium-demand areas where new supply is most urgently needed. This initiative is designed to act as a financial engine for the Postal Service by generating approximately $2.2 billion in annual rent receipts from medium- and high-demand parcels.
Offsetting USPS Operating Losses
The proposed revenue from housing developments could yield enough net income to significantly offset the current annual controllable operating losses faced by the USPS. For the past two decades, the USPS has struggled with a persistent revenue shortfall caused by declining mail volume and high operating costs within its nationwide service network. The agency currently faces net losses totaling billions of dollars annually.
Redevelopment Strategies
The strategy focuses on entire USPS sites that are underutilized relative to their surrounding land use, such as single-story post offices or processing facilities located on large parcels in dense urban or suburban areas. By utilizing vertical expansion, mixed-use redevelopment, or joint development, the agency could unlock housing production while preserving existing postal operations.
Federal Land Context
The initiative comes amid broader federal efforts to use public lands for housing. In March 2025, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of the Interior signed a memorandum of understanding to explore using federal lands to spur housing development. This resulted in the establishment of a Joint Task Force on Federal Land for Housing, which is charged with inventorying underutilized federal properties and identifying parcels suitable for residential development.
Infrastructure Advantages
The USPS owns over 8,500 properties and leases over 25,000 more. While the Trump administration has focused on Bureau of Land Management-owned lands, researchers suggest that USPS-owned properties offer more practical near-term opportunities because they are already embedded within existing communities and served by established transportation, utilities, and services.
Legislative Evolution
The legislation builds upon previous efforts to modernize USPS operations. The Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 established a framework allowing the USPS to deliver non-postal services, such as state Department of Motor Vehicles functions, in partnership with state and local governments. The new legislation seeks to expand this concept from simple subleasing of interior space to the large-scale redevelopment of entire postal sites.
