NOT-SO-LOCAL TREASURES ON THE WESTHEIMER STRIP 
Included in the lawsuit filed yesterday by Houston and Harris County attorneys against the owners of Treasures, which labels the Westheimer strip club a public nuisance and attempts to shut it down: allegations that the venue is a site of “human trafficking” — of dancers from Vegas. From Cindy George’s report: “The trafficking allegations stem from police probes revealing that some of the dancers are transported from Nevada to Texas, then from club to club within Houston, and reside in Galleria- area apartments and condos ‘where they are maintained by the pimps,’ [city attorney David] Feldman said at a news conference. . . . ‘They masquerade as legitimate businesses, but these high-end strip clubs like Treasures really are hubs of human trafficking,’ he said, later noting that the establishment averages $20 million in annual alcohol sales. ‘Treasures happens to be the most prominent of these clubs. It’s the largest. It is clearly the most visible and most notable and prominent. . . . We are hopeful that with this action, we serve notice not only on Treasures, but the other clubs out there that Houston-Harris County is not going to put up with this type of criminal activity.'” [Houston Chronicle]
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THE EAST DOWNTOWN ENRON MILLS MALL THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN 
Long before he sold the land where the brand-new BBVA Compass Stadium for the Houston Dynamo soccer team now sits to the city, former council member and longtime land speculator Louis Macey had a deal ready to go that would have turned the vacant land into some sort of close-to-Downtown entertainment venue, Catie Dixon reports: “He ended up with six blocks around Bastrop and Texas, which attracted the attention of Katy Mills and Enron. They agreed to buy the site if he could get 12 blocks and an exit ramp off the highway. (He convinced TxDOT to put in the Polk Street exit.) The deal fell through at the last minute . . .” Macey began buying up the properties in 1997. [Real Estate Bisnow; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Real Estate Bisnow
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WORKING IN THE EAST END, ATTENDING MIDTOWN “. . . In the East End, there is Talento Bilingue, Frenetic Theater, Box 13, El Rincon Social, Super Happy Fun Land, Barnevelder Movement/Arts Complex, Kalinen Contemporary, and probably some things that I’m missing. That’s a pretty good set of arts spaces, but it’s very spread out (from near 59 all the way out to Broadway). What is definitely going on in the East End is that a lot of artists have living and/or work spaces there (even though they have exhibits, both El Rincon Social and Box 13 are primarily studio spaces). But that’s not the same as being a destination for people to see art/performances. Whereas the Midtown/Museum District arts area is much more compact –– only 1.5 miles from the Midtown Arts Center to the MFAH — and in between you have the Continental Club, Inman Gallery, Bryan Miller Gallery, Art Palace, Devin Borden Gallery, War’House, the Houston Center For Contemporary Craft, Lawndale, the Ensemble Theatre, the MFAH — and that’s just on Main St. . . . If I was a scrappy young arts group looking for a physical home, I’d look out in the East End before Midtown. You just aren’t going to get things like Super Happy Fun Land, Frenetic Theater or Box 13 in Midtown.” [Robert Boyd, commenting on Midtown Arts Center Interim Design Review: How Do You Like It Now?]
TRADER JOE’S LESS-LOVED COUSIN MOVING INTO HOUSTON IN A BIG WAY 
Aldi isn’t exactly Trader Joe’s without the hype, but the 2 grocery chains are owned by sister companies from Germany. (Aldi Nord operates 1,200 stores in the U.S., mostly in the eastern half; Trader Joe’s is owned by Aldi Süd) Both of them specialize in private-label products. And they’ll be traveling in some of the same circles too: While Trader Joe’s is opening a measly 3 stores in the Houston area this year, its bigger and cheaper cousin has just announced a much grander Houston-opening gambit (after plans for a store outside Katy’s Oak Park Trails subdivision were met by protests from some neighbors earlier this year). The company now says it plans to invest $100 million to open 30 new Aldi stores in the Houston area over the next 3 years. And at least 10 of them should be open by next spring. There are already 37 Aldis in Texas, mostly near Dallas and Fort Worth. [Instant News Katy; PR Newswire] Photo: Garth Schweizer
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE FLEA MARKET GROWTH CYCLE “Canton Trade Days would not have lasted this long if it was a ‘secret.’ I used to go there twice a year, spring and fall. It was fun stomping around on the grounds amid tables and tents full of so many varieties of ‘stuff.’ Then, the owners started building all these covered pavilions, permanent structures with concrete floors and tall tin roofs. Naturally the vendors love them but rent is higher. So naturally the vendors have to charge more. So naturally, being a buyer, I’d buy less. And so on and so on etc. It’s not so fun anymore. But . . . I’m sure that there will always be those like the author of the above article who will discover the flea market and think it’s wonderful, thus establishing a family outing tradition for a number of years until it’s no longer fun for them. And so on and so on etc.” [PYEWACKET2, commenting on Headlines: The Chinese Drywall of Ashford Place; Oldest and Biggest Outdoor Flea]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: CLEARING OUT THE ENERGY CORRIDOR “Seems like there is one come down in 77079 almost everyday. Prices are really getting up there too.” [Candor, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Queensbury Clearing]
CITYCENTRE OWNER BUYING HOUSTON PAVILIONS 
Houston’s Midway Companies, along with an unnamed New York Partner, is set to acquire Houston Pavilions from the receiver who took over the Downtown mall last year, according to a report in today’s HBJ. Reporter Jennifer Dawson notes reports to the bankruptcy court indicate that the development’s retail space is now 66 percent leased, and the property has a positive cash flow — before debt service. In the year before its default, Pavilions’ original developer made no payments on its original $120.6 million 2007 loan. [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Haynes-Whalley
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THAT HOUSTON SOUND “I used to live 750 feet from 610. And before that, I lived 1,000 feet from active railroad tracks and kept my windows open at night. The sound that eminated from these sources would definitely exceed City or State standards, but is exempted. I had no right to silence and nor did I care. I even sort of miss the trains and the booming noises from the hump yard a mile to the south. I wish we had that in the Boulevard Oaks area and the Museum District. It’d make them a little more authentically Houston.” [TheNiche, commenting on Headlines: Noise Ordinance Complaints; Galveston’s Coming ‘Maginot Line’]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS AT KIRBY AND WEST ALABAMA “Ulta Cosmetics is taking the ground floor of the former Borders space and Texas Children’s Hospital is taking the upstairs.” [Keep Houston Scenic, commenting on Borders Activity Report]
BORDERS ACTIVITY REPORT 
There appears to be some construction going on inside the former Borders Books at the corner of Kirby and West Alabama in the Centre at River Oaks Shopping Center. Next door, at the restaurant spot formerly occupied by Pesce, workers are busy transforming and expanding the space into a Brio Tuscan Grille. But a Swamplot reader says the work on Borders looks separate: “Workers were going in and out. The whole inside looks gutted and the doors to specifically Borders were open and there was a table behind the green fence with water coolers. Even the 2nd floor doors where the coffee place was inside Borders were open. . . . When they initially started the demo at Pesce the green fence didn’t extend. Its only recently been there.” [Culturemap; Previously on Swamplot] Photo: Swamplot inbox
TODAY IN MAJOR MEDIA MARKET LINKBAIT 
The marketing folks at real estate brokerage Movoto have drummed up this pointless factoid: If the White House were located in Houston, it would cost $20 million — far less than it would if it were in any of the 6 other major markets they ran the spreadsheet calculation for. (Costs would probably be even lower in suburban Waco, but they’d have generated too few pageviews from calculating that figure to make it worthwhile.) Next least expensive of the calculated cities: Miami, with an imaginary White House worth $39 million. Most expensive: New York, at $387 million. No, this isn’t the cost to build another White House, it’s how much it would cost to buy it, if it were for sale, in a city where it doesn’t exist. [Movoto] Graphic: Movoto
COMMENT OF THE DAY: PLEASE HELP THE HOMELESS — TO BUY WHAT I’M SELLING “. . . I characterize the problem as a social blight and attribute my interest, concern, and thought toward it primarily because the long-term homeless are not engaging in society as consumers. They are a dead weight. I cannot sell them things, and the people that give them things are made less able to afford to buy my things. Homelessness is a problem because it interferes with the fulfillment of my greed.” [TheNiche, commenting on The Secret Homeless Caves Under Downtown]
JUDGE TO HOA: YOUR POTBELLIED NEIGHBOR CAN STAY 
60-lb. porcine Spring resident Wilbur Sardo will not be exiled from The Thicket at Cypresswood subdivision — because his presence in the neighborhood does not violate the local deed restrictions, a Harris County judge ruled today. The pig’s attorney, HOA law specialist Mitchell Katine, tells Chronicle reporter Erin Mulvaney that the decision in the lawsuit filed by the animal’s owners marks “the first time a Vietnamese pot belly pig has been recognized as a pet in court.” The neighborhood’s community improvement association had argued that Wilbur counted as livestock, and was therefore prohibited. The Sardo family began an extensive media campaign around its quest to keep Wilbur after receiving a notice from the association last year that it would be subject to fines of $200 a day if it continued to keep their pet at home. [NewsWatch; previously on Swamplot] Photo: iWilbur.com
HOUSTON STREET ART IS FOR DRIVERS 
Sebastien Boncy wishes Houston had more street art that made sense for Houston, where the viewers aren’t walking by. Like this sort of thing (pictured) “from a couple of months ago. Post-retinal butter on a stick. I saw it from the passenger seat, driving through downtown. Once more, only seconds are needed to take in this bright rupture in the space-time continuum. One look and you have a pretty good idea how it was made. As you are taking in that visual break with the dull aesthetic of yet another Downtown building, you are also processing the bratty action that made it possible. My day brightened as I saw it, I felt a twitch in my muscles that let me know how easy it would be to be part of the vandalism. I hadn’t felt that sort of adolescent rush since the first Twilight.” Alas, he continues, “Such examples remain rare and singular. I wish I had pictures to share with you the wonders of fire hydrants dressed in Lacoste (circa 2003) or the Twombly-like mural of poop smears (2005?) next to Mai’s. I have no idea who made any of this. Were they artists? You’re right, stupid question.” [Glasstire] Photo: Sebastien Boncy
COMMENT OF THE DAY: WE’RE FROM STUCCO, AND WE’VE COME TO TAKE YOUR HOME “Just an obervation: almost every teardown pictured lately has an italianate townhome or house behind it. Is stucco the new grim reaper for Houston real estate? I mean, it’s not as bad of an omen as the angry french fry, but seems to be more prominent as of late.” [Stating the Obvious, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Beverlyhill Bullies]