Interior of a house under construction with exposed wooden walls and ceiling, construction tools, and a worker sweeping the floor.

Some buildings have stood for over a century, quietly holding the history of the communities built around them. At Principle Element Historic Renovation, we believe those buildings deserve another century, providing families and businesses an affordable, quality place to call home.

Founded in Webb City, Missouri, we work with local property owners, trades, and community partners to restore historically significant spaces into thriving residential and commercial environments. We manage every detail with expertise, efficiency, and a genuine commitment to the people who will call those spaces home.

The communities we seek out share a common profile, and this is very intentional. We specifically look for towns with a designated historic district (or a few buildings individually designated), interstate accessibility, a nearby large-scale employer invested in the area as a whole, and a strong foundation of community stability and opportunity. Prime community examples of potential Principle Element projects include areas like Webb City, Carthage, and Neosho.

By strategically leveraging historic tax credits to reduce project costs, we are able to keep rents affordable without sacrificing quality. We retain and use the tax credits directly rather than selling them to outside entities — meaning the full value of all credits will stay in the project, in the building, and in the community where they belong. On top of that, our team works hard to ensure savings on materials, labor, and design at every stage. Those savings do not simply stay on a balance sheet, but instead flow directly into the communities we serve, drawing people back to downtown, fueling local growth, and turning each renovated building into a new stream of life right in the heart of the city.

We also recognize that restoring a historic community takes more than one company. Where there are opportunities in historic buildings ready to be brought back, we actively encourage other owners and developers to take on those neighboring spaces and projects themselves. It is not a competition, but instead a revitalization of lives, of homes, and of businesses. Realistically, Principle Element can only do so much with the time and money entrusted to us. A whole block or downtown zone coming back to life within a brief window of time serves the community far better than a building or two every few years. More hands working is never a threat. Instead, it is exactly what we are doing all of this for: an opportunity for life and community to freely flow once again.

Who we are

  • The corner of a historic brick building with large glass storefront windows and a wooden entrance door. The building has decorative brickwork and a sign indicating it is a bookstore. A small white car is parked in front, and there are street lamps on the sidewalk. The sky is clear and blue.

  • Empty commercial space with wooden floors, exposed brick walls, large front windows, and ceiling lights.

  • An indoor scene with a brick wall and wooden floor, featuring a weathered, cracked sign that reads "STAYER BUGGIES" and a partially visible wooden staircase. The lighting is warm and dim, and there is a wall-mounted lamp on the right side.

  • A brick building under construction with windows covered by metal bars, and the top sign indicating it was built in 1901 in Cincinnati; part of the building appears to be incomplete with green construction materials and support beams visible.

  • A construction worker wearing a helmet and safety harness uses a welding tool on an old steel pipe inside a building, with sparks flying from the grinding process.

  • A multi-story brick building under construction or renovation with green sheathing on the lower part, and with unfinished upper floors. Several parked cars are in front of the building on a city street, with a clear blue sky overhead.

  • Construction workers installing a sub-floor on a building's upper level, with framing and unfinished walls visible.