Meet the team
New Leaf Builders represents the partnership of Grant Zinkon and Adam Baslow, who have a combined near-20 years experience in real estate, developing, and building in the Lowcountry area.
Grant, a Charleston native who spent summers working in construction, earned his business degree from the Citadel, and upon graduation worked in lumber sales for Buck Lumber honing his skills in buying and selling building materials. After a few years, he was called to his passion—building—when Centex Homes hired him. For three years, he acted as a project superintendent (overseeing the building of homes), and was assigned to specialty undertakings from installing pools to building neighborhood entry monuments. While with Centex, Grant built his first own home, and took on custom home building projects for friends and family on the side. When word of his talents and reliable, common sense approach to building spread, he was flush with enough work to strike out on his own under the moniker Zinkon Development Comany. After three years on his own and some 70 plus new homes and projects under his belt, Grant teamed with longtime colleague Adam Baslow in 2011 to launch New Leaf Builders.
For his part, Vero Beach, Florida, native Adam came to the Lowcountry after graduating from Furman University with a double major in business and Spanish. When he moved to Charleston, a family friend suggested he look into real estate as a profession, since it had become a cherished personal avocation of the young grad. Adam, still a licensed Realtor® today, joined with Special Properties, Inc., a brokerage firm that focused primarily in selling land, and developing choice area real estate in the Lowcountry. While Adam enjoyed his time as a broker, it was when he began scouting available land for residential development for the company that he found his true calling. "There's just something about being outside, walking a property, and discerning its possibilities that I love," he says. That enthusiasm, paired with business savvy for what makes a sound investment, led to success with everyone from individuals looking for retirement home property to tract builders looking to develop entire neighborhoods. After building his own waterfront home on Johns Island, Adam was bit with the building bug, and hired Grant to help him build a spec home on an infill lot. After the home rented its first day on the market, and after a few more similar projects together, the two knew that their shared work ethic, high standards, and love for both the area and responsible building could be amplified by pairing up.
Why we build
Ask Grant and Adam why they are builders, and they say they simply love land, homes, design, and construction. "We really enjoy all of it," says Grant, "and we have a lot of fun seeing homes through from start to finish." Adds Adam, "And being a part of something that has a lasting impact is something we don't take lightly." The two use legacy as guiding force in all New Leaf Builders does. "We aim to be the builder that builds things that endure," says Grant, "and we want to be the builder you call back when you're ready for a second home, or a remodel."
Why choose New Leaf Builders?
Quality homes, quality crews, practical choices with stylish results—those are all trademarks of New Leaf Builders, as noted by our past clients as much as our no-nonsense approach to business. Work with us and you'll find we're straight-shooters about return-on-investment, design, materials, budgets, timelines, and more. Add that we're stewards of your homebuilding experience, the land on which we build, and our good reputation, and you've got a sense of why we are the better choice builder. "The most practical thing you can do," says Grant, "is build a home that's going to last at least 200 years. That home is intrinsically earth-friendly and smart. Whenever we're building, selecting a site, design, materials, we ask ourselves is this going to last for generations? Because ideally, we'd love to get to where were renovating houses we built ourselves years ago."
