Local business is raising
some risqué questions

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

The three-story beige house at 431 Rhawn St. looks more like an accountant’s office than a brothel.
On one side sits a real estate office. On the other side there’s a popular neighborhood pub. Across the street, there’s a new credit union office where a festive ribbon-cutting ceremony was held a mere two weeks ago.
The house itself is neat and clean with sharp vinyl siding from foundation to roof, freshly painted door and window trim, and a white picket-style railing enclosing a small concrete porch.
A "for rent" sign hangs on the spacious-looking garage at the end of a wide driveway, but otherwise there are no indications that this is a place of business — any kind of business.
In reality, however, all kinds of business occurs there, depending on whom you talk to.
According to city tax records, the occupants claim to be running an Oriental-figurine importing operation.
But the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections claims that it’s actually an unlicensed massage parlor. For that reason, L&I has ordered on-site business activity shut down twice in the last two months, most recently on May 18.
Meanwhile, neighbors insist that the so-called massage parlor is really a front for prostitution. And one local resident thinks that some risqué Internet advertisements prove it.
Philadelphia police have neither confirmed nor denied they are investigating possible criminal activity at the site. But six online classified ads posted on the www.craigslist.com Web site between April 27 and May 1 seem to promote the world’s oldest profession.
The ads all come up on a search of "exotic services" in the 19111 ZIP code. All are categorized as "w4m", or women for men. All include the Rhawn Street address and provide the same telephone number.
One ad states, "Come meet this exotic Asian chick with class that knows what she’s doing — and can give you just what you’re looking for!"
Other ads state, "Discover the Asian’s finest sensual relaxing body rub experience & ultimate sexy experience!!"
Yet another ad is written in the first person.
"I am willing to please . . . I enjoy putting on shows, showing off my body, every inch of it," it states.
Four of the ads display a photo of a topless woman. Others show women in lingerie, bikinis and a schoolgirl outfit. Only one of the ads shows a non-sexual photo of an actual massage being given.
The Northeast Times repeatedly attempted to call the business last week using the number in the ads, but there was no answer. A recording indicated that its message box was full.
In recent months, the same telephone number has also appeared in massage-parlor ads in multiple Philadelphia area publications, including the Northeast Times. The Times’ editorial department attempted to obtain the name of the person who placed the ads, but the paper’s business office did not disclose the information, citing its advertising privacy policy.
City real estate records list Charlotte Hudson as the owner of the property. Hudson and her husband, Don, operate a Bridesburg auto and truck sales business. Reached at that business last week, Don Hudson said he was unaware of the risqué ads or any related suspicious activity on Rhawn Street.
Hudson said he leases the site to a woman, whose name he refused to disclose.
"I want to see her (first). I want to sit down with her," Hudson said.
The woman has been sending him rent checks for about five months, he said. The lease agreement is for three years.
When told about the thinly veiled, and in some cases unveiled, online ads listing his property, Hudson said, "As far as I’m concerned, (the lease) is in default."
Hudson said he spoke with his lessee following the first L&I action at the site on March 28.
According to Gayle Johns, an L&I spokeswoman, the department went to the site that day in response to complaints about a massage parlor. The business entity of record was Jade Carousel Inc., which on Jan. 17 had applied for a city tax revenue account as "importers of wholesale oriental novelties."
Ads appearing in March issues of the Times promoted "The Jade Carousel Spa" in the Fox Chase area. The ad, featuring the same phone number as the later online ads, promised, "Just Oriental Massage Done Right."
But the permitted use of the site was a nail salon, not a wholesale business or a massage parlor.
It is unknown how long, if at all, business was idle at the site in accordance with L&I’s March 28 cease-operations order.
On April 13, a company named Lily Enterprises Inc. applied for a city tax revenue account as a "treatment center," listing the Rhawn Street address, Johns said. Yet, the zoning on the site was never changed from a nail salon.
Hudson met with his tenant around the same time, although he says that L&I has never contacted him about the site.
"(The lessee) told me she was trying to open up a spa and she’s trying to get a license," the property owner said.
On May 3, the now-familiar telephone number appeared in a Times ad for the Lotus Blossom Relaxation Center, impelling readers to "Come Discover the Secrets of Oriental Relaxation Therapy."
The ad was published again on May 10.
When L&I inspectors returned to the site on May 18, they observed massage tables set up around the place. So they questioned a female proprietor.
According to Johns, the woman claimed that she was operating "a warehouse of small figurines and also a wholesale business to show clients massage tables." ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com