SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. — Rising rents in the Bay area are not only leaving families with a difficult time finding affordable housing, but are impacting small businesses and their ability to stay afloat.

What You Need To Know

  • Bassano Cheesecakee Cafe is closing its doors in 2025 because of rising rent

  • According to the owners, Tom and Cindy Bassano, at the end of their five-year lease, their rent would become unaffordable

  • Despite this closure, the Bassano's say their commercial kitchen where they make their cheesecakes, in Oldsmar, will remain in operation

In Safety Harbor, a dessert shop and café is closing its doors when its lease ends next year because owners Tom and Cindy Bassano say they can’t afford the increased costs.

You can have all the culinary talent in the world, but there’s something about cooking a meal that reminds you of "home," and that’s what Tom Bassano says inspires him each and every day.

“I’m Italian,” he said. “That’s what we do.”

Bassano and his wife, Cindy, work long hours making egg sandwiches and corned beef hash, which might be surprising when you walk by their shop in Safety Harbor.

After all, the place is called Bassano Cheesecake Cafe.

But talk to Bassano, and you understand why he doesn’t limit his shop to one thing.

“It's in my DNA,” he said. “I have to. I have to feed people.”

There’s plenty of cheesecake — originally based on a recipe Bassano’s aunt made years ago — but the point is that the spot the Bassano’s opened in 2020 is where they make food they love and that their customers love, too.

“I've been feeding the same people breakfast for four years, almost every day,” Bassano said.

But he said in 2025, Bassano Cheesecake is closing its doors in Safety Harbor and they will be moving out of the café they spent months renovating because of rising rent.

“The rent is too high here, and it's going to be hard for any business to make it,” Bassano said. “Certainly, I know that we would not survive paying that kind of rent.”

According to Bassano, when their current lease expires, the new lease would have nearly doubled their rent.

On top of that, Bassano said inflation has increased the price of almost everything he uses at his shop.

“I was paying $35 for a case of cream cheese, which was which is a 30-pound case,” Bassano said. “Now, that’s around $90.”

He said everything, from eggs to paper goods, has doubled or tripled in price.

“You keep rolling with the punches,” he said. “You know, you're not going to make the same margin, but you're sweating it out, but you roll with the punches, then the insurance and it goes up. Then, our landlords have insurance, also, and taxes. Now the rent flies up almost double.”

So, the Bassanos made the decision to close their shop next year.

While they still have their commercial kitchen to bake cheesecakes, their storefront is up in the air.

“We have no idea what we’re going to do, so we’re going to listen to everybody and we’re going to find the best solution,” Bassano said.

He just knows it won’t be what it’s like right now in this space.

“I can't duplicate what I did here,” said Bassano. “I can't do this again. It's never going to be the same.”

But he said that won’t stop them from greeting every person that comes in the door looking for something to start their day, or wind down their evening from a couple driven to put a piece of their home into every meal.

The Bassanos say they’ve already received recommendations from customers about available real estate around Pinellas County.

Their commercial kitchen, where they make their cheesecakes, is in Oldsmar.