Caffe Kilim owner Yalcin Yazgan is optimistic about keeping his downtown coffee shop on Daniel Street.
Yazgan, who co-owns Caffe Kilim with his wife, Janice Schenker, found out last Monday he may have to leave the 79 Daniel St. shop unless he comes up with almost $500,000 to purchase the first-floor space. Though he wouldn’t discuss specifics, he said he’s currently “working on a process” and is confident he’ll stay where he is. A plan should be finalized by Thursday, he said.

The building’s current owner, Greenway Management, North LLC, is considering selling the shop’s location to a Portsmouth restaurant looking to expand, Yazgan said. He declined to name the restaurant.

Kilim has been a Portsmouth staple for almost two decades. Under the terms of his lease, Yazgan has right of first refusal, but has only 10 days to match the prospective buyer’s offer.

“It’s not easy to get a new place,” he said. “Everything’s going up.”

Yazgan said he tried to purchase the building two years ago for more than $400,000 but was undercut by another buyer who offered to pay in cash. During the last year, the upper floors of the building have been converted into condominiums.

After a story about the shop appeared in the Portsmouth Herald last Friday, Yazgan said he received “big help from the community … a lot of phone calls.” A benefit concert to raise money for the coffee shop is a possibility, and Yazgan said he’s considering adding sandwiches to the menu in order to raise more money.

Hampton attorney Eileen Nivens, listed on the N.H. Secretary of State’s Web site as the registered agent for Greenway Management, North LLC, did not return calls seeking comment. Daniel McKenna is listed on the deed as the owner of the Daniel Street property.

Yazgan said the trend of large chains and condos coming into the city is changing the character of the city. His shop is “99.9 percent local coffee shop” with a strong regular clientele.

“We don’t get tourists here,” he said. “Tourists come here just to ask directions.”

Even if he and Schenker are unable to purchase the building, he plans to stay in Portsmouth.

“Of course we’ll be here. Where are we going to go?” he said. “When we opened, they called us a fly-by-night operation. We’re still flying.”