- Concessions now appear at about 43% of L.A. apartment properties, up from 29% in 2025 per CoStar data, with grocery credits, gym memberships and gift cards added to free rent.
- The Mercer in West Hollywood gives qualifying residents $2,500 at Erewhon, its first such tie-up with an apartment building, on units starting at $8,000 a month versus a $2,371 metro average.
- Class A inventory is up 41% nationally in a year, yet starts are down 71% from peak, so concessions may ease once supply is absorbed, though four- and five-star vacancy is 9.5%.
Los Angeles luxury apartment concessions now go well beyond free rent, CoStar News reports, with grocery credits, gym memberships and ride-share cards in the mix.
Roughly 43% of L.A. apartment buildings now advertise a concession, up from 29% in 2025, per CoStar data.
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A $2,500 Grocery Credit
The Mercer, a 17-apartment West Hollywood property that debuted in July, hands qualifying residents a $2,500 balance at neighboring Erewhon along with a membership upgrade. Two-bedroom rents begin at $8,000, versus a metro average of $2,371.
Adam Rosenkranz, chief investment officer at developer Christina Development Corp., told CoStar News the arrangement is a first for Erewhon with a residential building. Whether it has swayed any renters is unclear, though he called leasing strong.
More Than Free Rent
At Related Rentals’ Santa Monica building, 700 Broadway, tenants get up to 10 weeks free plus a four-month Equinox membership. The Harper on Beverly offers a $350 Uber card plus one free month.
At Ten Thousand near Beverly Hills, residents can earn a $5,000 credit for referring a new tenant. Palma Collection, where one-bedrooms start at $10,550, has advertised up to $7,500 off plus a Dorsia membership.
Supply Meets a Thinner Renter Pool
Over five years, L.A.’s luxury stock has swelled 29%, or 37,000-plus units, and roughly 12,000 more are being built. CoStar’s Catherine Yeh told the outlet that jobs the region is adding often can’t carry rents of $8,000 to $10,000 a month.
Nationally, Class A inventory is up 41% over the past year. Free rent is still the main weapon, with one to two months common in newer buildings, Greysteel’s BJ Connolly said.
Avison Young’s Erik Edeen told CoStar News that perks may be worth less than free rent on a spreadsheet, but they build stickiness and make a building memorable.
The Pipeline Is Thinning
Deliveries peaked near 695,000 apartments in 2024, a mid-1980s high per CoStar, and slid to roughly 431,000 over the year through Q3 2026, a 24% drop.
Starts hit roughly 60,000 in the third quarter, 71% below the cycle peak and the lowest since 2012. Renters absorbed about 142,000 units against roughly 98,000 delivered, and overall vacancy is 7.8%.
The top of the market lags, though. Four- and five-star vacancy is 9.5%, against 7.9% for three-star and 6.1% for the bottom two tiers.
Why It Matters
Luxury owners can’t count on high-earning tenants to fill buildings, so they are competing on experience as well as price. The same pressure shows in RealPage’s data, where concession use fell to 14.5% of stabilized units in September but the average discount held at 11.1%.
Free rent is easy to copy. A branded perk is harder.
What’s Next
Edeen expects pressure to ease as the new supply gets absorbed, though not overnight. Until then, expect landlords to keep hunting for the next differentiator.
