Vince and Pete's Three Dollar Bill Cafe abruptly closed its doors this week, four years after it opened on the ground floor of the LGBT Community Center.

Owners Vince Constabileo and Peter Howells, who are domestic partners, shuttered the business Monday, September 22. They had just renamed and remodeled the space earlier this year.

The cafe had become a popular hangout for nearby residents, visitors to the building, and center staffers. It played host to queer open mic nights, literary readings, and community group meetings.

"It's very sad to see a place where so much community building and socializing and great entertainment and so many groups met. It is sad to see that coming to an end," said Constabileo.

But rising rent and a lack of security in the building led the men to decide to pull out of their lease early. In recent months an employee quit after their laptop was stolen and a man came into the cafe brandishing a gun, said Constabileo.

"The cafe business is a tough business anyway. It was a challenge getting people into the building," he said. "We don't have an entrance into the cafe itself. And being on Market Street is always a challenge too, as far as traffic goes."

They had been trying to sell the cafe for the last several months. An online posting for the sale of the business listed the asking price as $49,000 and said the lease expires in 2009. It comes with a license to sell wine and beer.

"We had someone interested who put down a check. Then when the person dealt with the center it didn't go any further," said Constabileo.

The sudden closure surprised center officials who had known the couple was trying to sell the eatery but were not given advance notice that Monday would be its last day.

"We knew about a change but weren't aware of the timeline," said Rebecca Rolfe, the center's executive director. "We aren't exactly clear what the ramifications are."

Rolfe added that the center is sad to see the couple leave.

"We appreciated having them here. We feel they have been a great tenant," she said.

Negotiations with the potential buyer stalled after the person asked the center for free rent, Rolfe said.

"My understanding is the person who was interested in negotiating for the lease, once they saw the financial statements for the cafe they felt it was not feasible to purchase the cafe," said Rolfe.

As for security in the building, Rolfe said the center did end its contract 17 months ago with the patrol special police and its own staff was now providing security. She said the center's security issues aren't any different than what other public buildings face.

"We are not required by the lease to provide security for the cafe," she said. "Security is always an issue for a public building. I believe security here is as good or better than it has ever been."

Conversations are ongoing about the cafe's lease obligations and rental payments, said Rolfe. The cafe had been paying $2,678 a month in rent.

"Yes, certainly it is a significant loss for us," she said.

With the center already redesigning its lobby so that its front desk is closer to its entrance, the cafe space may be utilized for other programming, said Rolfe. To help recoup the rental income, she said one idea is to have a coffee cart rather than a sit-down coffeehouse.

"We certainly are open to continuing to have a cafe in that space. We are also open to other ideas of using that space," said Rolfe.