Casbah Café, an established Silver Lake coffee house at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Hyperion Avenue closed on Monday after 18 years in business after being forced out by its landlord, according to a letter written by the café’s owners and published by LAist.

The owners said staying in the neighborhood was impossible as a host of larger, corporate businesses have moved in the neighborhood and called it home.

“A bitter ending is always better than an endless bitterness. Casbah is a good example of a turning point in a neighborhood where reality switches from everyday common sense to the corporate world reason,” the letter reads.

“We had to pack up 20 years of a business over night,” it continues. “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.”

The café’s owners also said that they hoped other small businesses around Sunset Boulevard would learn from Casbah’s experience.

“If you do not own your own building, you do not own your own business!” the letter says.