Among the builder members of the Northeast Florida Builders Association, stories of surviving the rough years are not rare. In fact, looking at the membership roster, each member is a story of survival. Stories of coming out of the rough years stronger and better prepared to weather storms are plentiful. With common threads, these builders attribute their success to a number of factors: careful planning ahead, diversifying their product, finding the right market niche, tenacity, support of family, friends, loyal trade allies and their faith.
As a comeback builder, Lee Arsenault can and does speak eloquently for those in the local industry who have redefined themselves and are now enjoying a successful return to the landscape of Northeast Florida.
“At the peak of the market, it was an exciting time, and we were very busy. I really did not see what was coming,” Lee admitted. “There was talk about a bubble, and we saw some builders slowing their pace. But we were buying land, gearing up, hiring people and had great plans for growth.”
Lee was with The Vintage Group with Jerry Linder, and the company was thriving.
“When the market did begin to show obvious signs of slowing down, we were still writing contracts, new homes were in production,” Lee said. “But then buyers began backing out of contracts and we saw what was coming. We cut back and tried very hard to keep the doors open, but we couldn’t.”
With the business closed, Lee was idle for about six months. He credits his wife, his friends who needed a contractor and his faith for getting him back to the work he loves.
“My wife Diane half-jokingly would tell me to ‘get off the couch,’ and I wanted to do that, but once I got off the couch ... then what? Not many people were building or buying new homes,” he said.
Then the calls began. First one friend and then another.
“When I was working and busy, I would receive those calls and I would give my friends the name of a good contractor or remodeler because I just didn’t have time to do any other work on the side,” Lee said. “Now those calls were like a lifeline. I had the time and it was good to be working.”
A bathroom for one friend, then an add-on for another. Those friends told their friends. Sometimes they would call him back to do even more work. Word of mouth opened doors and was the pivotal point for Lee.
“I was blessed to do work for really nice people,” he said. “I was having fun and it was good to be busy and to be able to put other people back to work. God works that way, you know.”
So, Lee started a company and named it New Leaf Construction. He got the required licenses, insurance and legal documents. Diane designed the logo, which has several layers of meaning.
“The obvious, of course, is my personal ‘turning over a new leaf,’ a new chapter of my life,” Lee said. “And as we started to be able to put others back to work, the company offered them that same opportunity. The logo also expresses our belief that our customers are like branches on a tree, that we are connected and sustain each other. We are all connected when we work together to achieve our dreams.”
Working with personal friends taught him some important lessons about the relationship between a builder and a homeowner, he said.
“Success of those projects depended on understanding what the homeowner wanted,” he said. “I learned that my role is to be an advocate for my customer. I had always wanted the customer to have a good experience and be happy with their new home, but this experience gave me greater insight into the advocate’s role of a builder or remodeler.”
Lee believes the biggest blessing of his new company is putting people back to work – he now has nine employees – and the positive ripple effect for his trade partners.
“Our industry was very hard hit,” he said, “including our trade partners. Now we’re seeing many of them starting to grow again because they can count on a regular income and a reliable stream of jobs.”
That’s why Lee thinks the Pinnacle Builder Award is a huge benefit to NEFBA members.
“We’ve long encouraged members to do business with members, but it wasn’t until the Pinnacle Builder Award was created that we began to see just how important it is to make hiring members a top priority,” Lee said.
Lee was approached by one of his tradesmen whose business was suffering because builders were hiring other contractors, contractors who were not NEFBA members. Lee was concerned and together they went to talk to then-NEFBA President Mark Downing.
“I didn’t have a solution, but was so pleased when the Pinnacle Builder Award was created because that was certainly a step in the right direction,” Lee said. “It’s an innovative, effective way to promote a concept that is essential to keeping our association strong and growing. By acknowledging and rewarding builders who make this commitment, we encourage others to do the same. And New Leaf is proud to be a Pinnacle Builder.”
Lee is also enthusiastic about NEFBA’s Meet the Builder night.
“That event offers great sponsorship opportunities and it gives our associate members a chance to demonstrate their skills, their products and their services,” he said.
Lee is a member of the Remodelers Council and has been on the NEFBA board since 1995. He takes advantage of his membership with the NEFBA’s parent organization, the National Association of Home Builders, to obtain training and valuable interaction with builders from across the country.
“NEFBA gives its members an edge,” he said. “What one company or an individual cannot accomplish, the association can. There is strength in numbers, and we are particularly fortunate to have well-connected members and staff who work hard to get our message to area, state and national decision makers.”
When he started New Leaf Construction, Lee was doing everything himself. As the business grew, he needed help, and he hired Paul Sturney as a senior project manager. Not too long after that, Lee interviewed for and was selected to be the builder on what is now the company’s major project, Old San Jose on the River. New Leaf moved its office to the riverfront property to provide the oversight and hands-on involvement such a project requires.
“This has been a great partnership for us,” he said. “This property has gone through several owners, developers, plans for use. Some of those ideas were not working in today’s market, so we’ve partnered with some great folks and are having phenomenal success. On Febreary 1, 2012, we didn’t even have a floorplan. By August 15, we opened our sales office and sold six homes the first week. Within six months, we had sold 16homes.”
Lee was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, where his father, who worked for the state department, was assigned. Lee and his six siblings had an international childhood living in Central and South America before returning to Boston.
Lee learned Spanish before he learned English.
The family lived in the Washington, D.C. area before moving to Miami. Lee finished high school in the upper Keys and joined the Army upon graduation, serving a tour of duty in Vietnam. After his discharge, he returned to the Keys and began his long and productive life as a builder.
Lee and Diane, who have been married for 30 years, have two children: Rebecca, the executive assistant for New Leaf, and Christopher, who also lives in the area and is pursuing his own career.
“When you’ve been out of business for a while, you begin to doubt yourself. You begin to lose your confidence,” he said. “That’s when you have to get back in the trenches and prove first to yourself and then to everyone else that you can do it, and you can do it well.”