And they will not let a lease or even market-rate rents get in the way.

The new market-rate rents, ranging from $2,100 to $4,200 a month, are geared mostly for annual incomes of $100,000 and above.

Next will be market-rate rents of $25 to $30 a square foot.

Ms. Honda's initial market-rate rent, in 1994, had been $1,000 a month.

Owners are allowed to charge only a fraction of current market-rate rents.

"The problem here is that everything we have offered him has been basically at market-rate rents."

The market-rate rents are expected to be $2,800 to $4,900 a month.

Large apartment buildings that command market-rate rents in the neighborhood are still relatively rare.

The anticipated market-rate rents will fall between $875 and $1,650.

So today, many tenants near the end of 10-year leases pay well above market-rate rents.