Kaufman Real Estate & Consulting, together with development partner Oldivai, announced a two-site redevelopment in Jacksonville's Springfield Historic District: the adaptive reuse of a century-old brick industrial building at the northwest corner of Main and 12th streets, paired with a new modular workforce housing community across West 12th Street.
The two-story brick building, once home to Screen Process Printers Inc., was acquired in October 2019 by Springfield Community Development LLC, an entity managed by Daniel Kaufman, along with a companion 0.23-acre vacant commercial parcel across the street at 2124 N. Main St. The combined purchase totaled $515,000. The site sits in the Springfield Warehouse District, adjacent to Andrew A. Robinson Elementary School, within one of the largest historic districts in the southeastern United States.
The redevelopment plan preserves the building's original brick shell and adds three new stories on top, totaling five stories, bringing ground-floor commercial or creative office and upper-floor residential to a corner that has sat largely dormant for decades. The approach reflects Kaufman Real Estate & Consulting's broader adaptive-reuse philosophy: pairing historic character with new supply rather than choosing between preservation and growth.
On the companion parcel across West 12th Street, Oldivai will develop a new workforce housing community using an iteration of its Project Zero model—a modular, kit-of-parts construction methodology. Modules are built off-site in a climate-controlled factory using LEAN/Six Sigma manufacturing methods, then delivered and set in place by crane, accelerating the development timeline and improving quality and cost control. The community will target the "missing middle"—teachers, healthcare workers, first responders, and tradespeople earning approximately 80–120% of area median income who are increasingly priced out of the neighborhoods they serve.
"Springfield is one of the best examples in the country of what adaptive reuse can do for a neighborhood. We've owned this corner since 2019 because we believed it deserved a plan that respected its history instead of erasing it. Restoring the building and building workforce housing across the street lets us do both at once," said Daniel Kaufman, President of Kaufman Real Estate & Consulting.
"Project Zero proved that modular construction can deliver workforce housing faster and at higher quality than the conventional process allows. Jacksonville gives us the chance to bring that model to a neighborhood with real employment density and real need for attainable housing," said Susan Gillespie, Chief Operating Officer of Oldivai.
The adaptive-reuse project involves an estimated $40 million investment and a 24- to 30-month delivery timeline, yielding 125,000 square feet with ground-floor retail and workspace, rooftop terraces, 80 residential loft units, and 50 workspace suites. The workforce housing project, with an estimated $35 million investment and 16- to 20-month timeline, will deliver 150 units across a six- to seven-story massing, using net zero-ready CLT construction.
This dual approach addresses two critical needs: preserving historic architecture and increasing housing supply in a neighborhood where affordability is a growing concern. By combining adaptive reuse with modular construction, the project demonstrates a scalable model for urban infill development that other cities could emulate.
