Black ‘n Brew Cafe Owners Being Forced to Vacate After 17 Years

Black n’ Brew owners Colleen DeCesare and Jennifer Kaufman in South Philadelphia (photo courtesy Black n’ Brew)

A couple of weeks ago, we started getting emails from fans of Black ‘n Brew, the beloved cafe that’s stood on Passyunk Avenue in South Philadelphia for 17 years. According to the tips we were getting, which soon became numerous, Black ‘n Brew’s landlord was forcing the coffeeshop out after all these years. And it turns out the tips were true.

“We decided to keep quiet about it until now,” says Black ‘n Brew’s Colleen DeCesare, who owns the cafe with her wife, Jennifer Kaufman. “But now, we have to speak out. This is all just so unfair. We’ve been great tenants for almost two decades.”

Black ‘n Brew’s lease is up. And when that happens, you normally renew your lease, probably with a slight rent increase. But as DeCesare tells it, Black ‘n Brew’s landlord PARC (it stands for Passyunk Avenue Revitalization Corporation) told her in December that PARC couldn’t renew her lease because she owed them money.

Black n’ Brew cafe on Passyunk Avenue in South Philadelphia

According to DeCesare, the money she supposedly owed PARC stemmed from the COVID era, a discounted rent the cafe was supposed to pay during those long months when the cafe was forced to remain closed. But here’s the thing: DeCesare and Kaufman swear up and down that they did pay all that money. And they claim that they tried to explain that to PARC in December but that PARC didn’t want to listen.

“We have the canceled checks,” says DeCesare. “But they didn’t want to see them. And even if we did owe them a few thousand dollars, which we don’t, we’d figure out away to take care of that right away. But there were no talks. No negotiations.”

We reached out to PARC executive director Alex Balloon to get PARC’s side of things. Balloon sent us the following statement, presented here in full:

At PARC, we are deeply committed to the success of our tenants and the community, especially during unprecedented times like the pandemic. Our engagement with Black N Brew has been ongoing and multifaceted, including rent relief measures and attempts to negotiate amicable payment solutions. Despite these efforts and the eventual reopening and lease renewal of Black N Brew, unresolved financial obligations have driven the decision not to renew the current lease, expiring in February. Our approach continues to be guided by our dual mission of property management and community enhancement, seeking solutions that respect both our tenants and our community’s broader interests. We wish them luck in their future endeavors.

We went back to DeCesare and Kaufman again, to ask about these alleged “unresolved financial obligations.” They insist that there are none. “It’s just an out-and-out lie,” claims Kaufman.

“I truly feel that PARC is using the end of our lease to get rid of us,” posits DeCesare. “Then they would refit the place. After that, they’d triple the rent. Look what happened to the hardware store. They were forced to move out and in came Primal Meats, which I hear was paying double rent. And the fancy butcher went out of business before very long.”

DeCesare says she decided to speak up with the hope that community pressure will make PARC rethink its decision or at least give Black n’ Brew more time to find a new location.

Meanwhile, residents are taking action on their own. On Thursday, one Black n’ Brew fan launched a GoFundMe to help cover the costs of relocating. The crowdfunding effort has raised over $5,600 in less than 24 hours. There’s also a Change.org petition.

“This is such a difficult time for us,” says DeCesare. “But it’s truly humbling to see the community surround us with so much love and support.”