Kaufman Real Estate & Consulting, in partnership with Oldivai, has announced a two-site redevelopment in Jacksonville's Springfield Historic District. The project involves 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 directly across West 12th Street.
The existing 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 at 2124 N. Main St. The combined purchase totaled $515,000. The site is located 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, resulting in a five-story structure. The project will include ground-floor commercial and creative office space, upper-floor residential units, rooftop terraces, and a total of 125,000 square feet. It will feature 80 residential loft units and 50 workspace suites. The estimated investment is $40 million, with a delivery timeline of 24 to 30 months.
On the companion parcel across West 12th Street, Oldivai will develop a workforce housing community using an iteration of its Project Zero model. This modular, kit-of-parts construction methodology was piloted in Spokane, Washington. 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 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.
The workforce housing component will consist of 150 units across a six- to seven-story massing, with an estimated investment of $35 million and a 16- to 20-month delivery timeline.
Daniel Kaufman, President of Kaufman Real Estate & Consulting, emphasized the importance of respecting history while adding density. “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.”
Susan Gillespie, Chief Operating Officer of Oldivai, highlighted the benefits of modular construction. “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.”
This project underscores a growing trend in adaptive reuse and modular construction to address urban housing shortages while preserving historic character. The combination of restoring a century-old building and adding new workforce housing could serve as a model for other cities facing similar challenges.
