Salon owner faces uncertain future.
Nicole Carter is having a bad hair day.
Make no mistake, Carter's frosted blonde locks are arranged into a spiky bouquet of coiffure perfection. But every day has been an ugly day to be in the beauty business since her Blue Monkey Salon and Cosmetology School came into the crosshairs of Santa Fe County politics.
"It's just really stressful." Carter sighs. "There's no way to plan for what might happen because
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everything is up in the air…but I'm getting less and less optimistic every day."
Blue Monkey's future has been uncertain since the county purchased the neighboring Paramount nightclub earlier this year. That deal leaves 225 Montezuma Ave.-which houses both Blue Monkey businesses and the Mist Skin Care salon-as the only property on the block the county doesn't own.
Carter and her husband, Joel Hobbie, don't expect it to stay that way for long. After the County Commission announced Dec. 6 that it was zeroing in on the property as the possible site of a new district courthouse, they fear their fate is all but certain.
"We've come to the conclusion that we're going to have to move, it's just an issue of when," Hobbie says. "If it happens in five years, who cares? But if this thing happens a year from now we're pretty much screwed."
Blue Monkey relocated to its present location two years ago. Carter opened the Blue Monkey Cosmetology School adjacent to her salon last March with high hopes. "There is no way I would have [opened the school] if I had any idea that this would happen. I never dreamed we would have to move out before our lease was up," she says.
Before anything happens, the county must conduct and analyze a site feasibility study. Joseph Gutierrez, director of the county's projects and facilities management department, says the study won't be complete for another four to six weeks, although he acknowledges county representatives have already conducted preliminary talks with the Barker family-which owns the property-to discuss the prospective acquisition. John Barker-whose management company administers the property on behalf of his family-declined to comment.
County Commissioner Jack Sullivan says early indications are the location would be a sufficient home for the courthouse. However, Sullivan insists due process won't be thrown aside.
"This is a big investment," Sullivan says. "We're talking $30 to $40 million. We want to do it right. We're not going to rush this through and, in my experience, the land acquisition and appraisal is the most time-consuming part of the process. This isn't going to pop up by next summer."
Shar Jimenez isn't waiting around to find out. The owner of Mist Skin Care says she will vacate 225 Montezuma when her lease runs out in February.
"It's my impression that they are going to take the property one way or another," Jimenez says. "I don't particularly want to sit back and wait for all the drama to unfold. I have to make long-term decisions for my business and it's really tough to do that with this whole thing looming over us."
Nicole Carter doesn't have a choice.
"We can't really look for a new space because we don't know how soon we'll get kicked out of this one," Carter says. "And we don't have the money to move anyway. We mortgaged our home to open this school. We put everything we have into this place. If we move, the school is going to die."
