Aggressive

Out of state investment firm becomes absentee landlord to local apartment building.  You won't believe what happens next. 

Passco Companies, of Irvine, California, said it bought the 330-unit complex and its 500-space parking lot — which is now known as Canal 1535 — primarily because of its proximity to the burgeoning biomedical district in that part of the city.

"We found it to be a great market for job growth and migration with all the education and healthcare employers moving in," said Stacy Stemens, a senior vice president at Passco. "That's who's renting there and the rents are aggressive."

Units in the nine-story building average just over 900 square feet and rents have shot up amid a nationwide shortage of rental properties.

Stemens said that as leases turn over, rents that were about $1,500 to $3,500 a month are now averaging between $2,500 and $5,500 for the one- and two-bedroom units. In the New Orleans area, rents have increased by 8% in the six months ending in April, contributing to what fair-housing advocates say is an escalating affordable-housing crisis.