After Years of Emptiness, the Old K-Mart Lot in Bozeman Gets a Second Life

Drive past 7th Avenue near the I-90 exit in Bozeman and you know the spot. That vacant stretch where K-Mart used to be—31 acres of asphalt and absence that's sat idle while the city exploded around it.

That's about to change. The site will become Bozeman Square, a mixed-use development that partners Irwin Barkan, Bryan Beauchamp, and Sebastian Guilhemontania plan to build out over the next decade. Think residential mixed with retail, restaurants alongside a potential convention center, hotels near entertainment spaces—all of it stitching together the Main Street District and the Fairgrounds.

"It's an idea whose time has come, a place where things come together," Barkan says. He's been working on this for over a year with Cushing Terrell and coordinating with the city, county, Fairgrounds, and Chamber of Commerce to make the pieces fit.

The full buildout will take 5 to 10 years and eventually span more than a million square feet. Phase I breaks ground in 2026 with about 100,000 square feet—200 affordable housing units, retail space, restaurants, and what the developers call "lifestyle amenities." Charter Realty is handling leasing for retail anchors, and according to promotional materials, several tenants are already in talks.

The affordable housing component matters in a town where housing costs have priced out longtime residents and essential workers. The exact affordability standards aren't detailed in the announcement, but 200 units would be substantial.

The project's timing aligns with both the city's master plan for Midtown and the Fairgrounds' own renovation plans. Caitlin Quisenberry, the Fairgrounds Director, notes they're in the early stages of updating aging facilities "while maintaining the integrity of our community user groups and values. This is such an exciting time to work with our neighbors to the west to cohesively create a mixed-use entertainment region that serves a community as broad as ours."

Daryl Schliem, CEO of the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce, sees the development as filling a gap. "Bozeman Square will provide an anchor to the North 7th Corridor, attract locals and visitors from all over the country, and fill a need in our community for years to come," he explains.

Barkan brings four decades of development experience to the project, having worked on properties for major retailers across the US, Canada, and Sub-Saharan Africa. His partners Beauchamp—a farmer, rancher, and developer who's built more than 500 residential units in Western Montana—and Guilhemontania, who specializes in real estate finance and syndication, are all Montana residents.

The 31 acres stretch east from the old K-Mart site along Oak Street to the Fairgrounds, zoned B2M and R5, which allows most commercial activities plus residential, retail, and arts and entertainment uses.

What emerges over the next decade could reshape a corridor that's been more gap than destination. Barkan envisions it as "another center of public spaces in the heart of the Midtown district"—a place where different parts of Bozeman finally connect. After years of that lot sitting empty, there's finally a plan to bring it back to life.

For more information about Bozeman Square, interested retail tenants can contact Charter Realty. Developer contact: Irwin Barkan, [email protected], (406) 577-6682.