Jacksonville's Springfield Historic District to Gain Mixed-Use Adaptive Reuse and Modular Workforce Housing

Kaufman Real Estate & Consulting, in partnership with Oldivai, has unveiled a two-site redevelopment project in Jacksonville's Springfield Historic District. The plan includes 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. This initiative aims to preserve historic character while adding much-needed housing supply in a neighborhood that is part of one of the largest historic districts in the southeastern United States.

The existing two-story brick building, formerly 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 situated in the Springfield Warehouse District, adjacent to Andrew A. Robinson Elementary School.

The adaptive reuse component will restore the building's original brick shell and add three new stories, bringing the structure to five stories total. The redevelopment will encompass approximately 125,000 square feet, including ground-floor retail and workspace, rooftop terraces, 80 residential loft units, and 50 workspace suites. The estimated investment for this phase is $40 million, with a delivery timeline of 24 to 30 months.

Across the street, Oldivai will develop a 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 workforce housing 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 project will deliver 150 units across a six- to seven-story massing, with an estimated investment of $35 million and a 16- to 20-month delivery timeline.

“Springfield is one of the best examples in the country of what adaptive reuse can do for a neighborhood,” said Daniel Kaufman, President of Kaufman Real Estate & Consulting. “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, added, “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.”

The combined projects represent a significant investment in the Springfield Historic District, potentially serving as a model for other cities seeking to balance preservation with growth. By pairing historic restoration with innovative modular construction, the development addresses both the need for affordable housing and the desire to maintain community character. This approach could influence future real estate developments across Texas and beyond, as workforce housing remains a critical issue nationwide.