Silver Lake's Casbah Cafe abruptly closes after 140 percent rent increase

After two decades of serving up cappuccinos and creme brûlée, Silver Lake's popular Casbah Cafe abruptly closed its doors this week after facing a 140 percent increase in rent, according to co-owner Claudia O'Sullivan.

"We closed suddenly because we're broke and the landlord has raised the rent," O'Sullivan told KPCC. "The fight is over."

O'Sullivan said her current rent is $5,000 per month but was being raised to $12,000. She said Silver Lake, with its chains and expensive restaurants, is a neighborhood where independent, quirky cafes like hers can no longer survive.

"It's an environment that has changed significantly since we began," said O'Sullivan.

Even before the latest rent increase, O'Sullivan said her cafe was struggling to turn a profit because of more restrictive parking, the arrival of competitors like Intelligentsia Coffee and the tendency of customers to stay at tables for hours for the Wi-Fi. 

"A profit hasn't been made for a very long time," said O'Sullivan.

Earlier this week, Casbah Cafe released a strongly-worded statement about how Silver Lake has changed: "Casbah is a good example of a turning point in a neighborhood where reality switches from everyday common sense to the corporate world reason. Silver Lake as it was when we started the neighborhood is gone for good and we could not be the sole supporter for keeping Silver Lake as it started any longer."

Scott D. Plante, who serves on the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council, said he was surprised when he walked by the Casbah Cafe and saw it was closed. He says the population of the neighborhood has changed, but there are still very few chains.

"I think the corporatization of Silver Lake has been overblown," said Plante. “I don’t doubt that their landlord raised the rent, but Silver Lake still has an eclectic mix of businesses.” 

Twitter users expressed sadness about Casbah Cafe's closure:

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