If you want a “lease hack,” Civic isn’t the car you want. Any way you slice it, a Civic won’t lease well.
Look at the Cruze or Elantra or the outgoing '18 Jetta or Corolla iM for a good compact lease.
Otherwise, the price isn’t terrible for a Civic, because a Civic is generally a pretty terrible lease.
For that money, you can probably get a Chevrolet Cruze, except the Cruze will be a much better equipped, higher trim with more bells and whistles.