What Lease-Up Means and Why Specials Run Deepest During It

What does lease-up mean?

Lease-up is the period after a new apartment building opens when it’s filling its first units. It starts with the first move-ins, after the building receives its Certificate of Occupancy, and ends when occupancy levels off. That point is called stabilization. Many of the lease-up apartments in San Antonio on our board are in this stage right now.

For renters, lease-up matters because it’s usually when specials run deepest. A building that’s filling needs residents, and specials are the fastest way to attract them.

In one line

Lease-up: a new building filling its first units. Stabilized: a building whose occupancy has leveled off.

Lease-up vs stabilized

	Lease-up	Stabilized
Occupancy	Rising	Leveled off
Specials	Often deepest	Smaller, or none
Amenities	May still be finishing	Usually complete
Construction nearby	Possible, especially phased sites	Less common
Year-two jump	Often larger	Often smaller

Before lease-up, there’s pre-leasing, when a community signs leases before its first move-ins. See our page on new apartments opening soon.

Why specials peak during lease-up

New buildings usually carry construction financing, and owners need to show steady leasing. When leasing slows, specials grow. When a building fills, specials shrink. In a market with lots of new supply, that competition is stronger.

San Antonio is in that kind of market now. Vacancy counting lease-ups was 14.9% in Q3 2026 (CoStar via San Antonio Report). Even among stabilized buildings, about one-third of units carried a concession, with an average discount of 11.6% (RealPage, January and May 2026). On our board, the median special was 8.7 weeks free on Oct 25, 2026.

The trade-offs

Deep specials come with a few things to plan for:

• Year two. Renewal is priced from base rent, so the deeper the special, the bigger the jump. See the year-two rent jump.
• Unfinished amenities. The pool or gym may open after you move in. We confirm what’s finished in writing.
• First-year fixes. New buildings have punch lists. See living in a lease-up building.

Signs a building is in lease-up

You can often tell a building is in lease-up before you ask:

• Large specials on the website or a banner
• Fresh landscaping and young trees
• Some amenities fenced off or marked as coming soon
• Model units staged in the leasing office
• A second phase under construction nearby

On our board, every card shows the stage, so you don’t have to guess. We also confirm what’s finished in writing before you sign.

When lease-up ends

A building usually reaches stabilization when most units are leased and occupancy holds steady. At that point, specials often shrink, and renewals follow the market more closely. If you’re renewing in a building that has stabilized, expect fewer concessions than you got at move-in, and plan for year two accordingly.

How stage enters our New Build Score

Lease-up stage is worth 15 of the 100 points in the San Antonio New Build Score. It reflects where a building sits between pre-leasing and stabilized, which affects both deal depth and how settled the building is. Our guide on how the New Build Score works shows all six parts.

Every card on the board shows the stage. Send us your list and we’ll confirm the stage, what’s finished, and the special with each office the same day.