Not all real estate stories are good real estate stories

Not all real estate stories are good real estate stories

It’s very easy to forget sometimes that we have very poor people in this county. Too easy.

With near daily news about another gleaming office tower planned for downtown West Palm Beach, $100 million-plus sale of a mansion property in Palm Beach or median price of a Palm Beach County home hovering well above the half-million dollar mark, who’s going to notice the deplorable conditions residents of an apartment complex are being forced to live in?

We are.

Amid the drumbeat of stories like the above-mentioned being produced by our team of real estate, growth and development reporters, Palm Beach Post County Government Reporter Mike Diamond injected a dose of reality last week.

The top of his story:

PAHOKEE — County officials were forced to shut down a Pahokee apartment complex this month after discovering life-threatening conditions that included the presence of mold, sewage backups and exposed electrical wires that could have electrocuted tenants.

The 25 tenants from 15 households have all been relocated. The four-building complex is in an unincorporated area of the county near Pahokee’s municipal boundary.

“What we found was disgusting,” said Ramsey Bulkeley, executive director of the county’s Planning, Zoning and Building department. “This is the worst case I’ve seen in my 10 years here.”

It doesn’t get much more damning than that.

That’s why the day Diamond’s revealing — and embarrassing –— story was published, the Palm Beach County Commission took action:

County officials are exploring the possibility of requiring that rental units in unincorporated areas be inspected before tenants can occupy them. …

Commissioner Maria Sachs said no one should have to live under the conditions described in The Post article. She called for a review of what cities throughout the county are doing when a landlord seeks to rent a dwelling unit. She said a rental-inspection program could help to prevent the kind of situation that occurred near Pahokee.

Story continues

We plan to cover every aspect of our county’s dynamic real estate, growth and development industry. Not just another major hotel coming to the county convention center area, but how employers are struggling to hire and hold onto workers because of sky-high rents.

This wouldn’t be possible without the support of our subscribers. Check out more of our work from the past week below.

Also, check out our new subscriber-exclusive newsletter: The Dirt has the scoop on Palm Beach real estate and growth. Sign up here to get it in your inbox on Tuesdays.

And please, tell a friend. We’ll make more.

Rick Christie

Executive Editor

And you can always reach out to me at [email protected] and find me on Twitter at @rchristiepbp. Or send in a news tip to [email protected]. Subscribe to independent reporting that supports democracy via subscribe.palmbeachpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Not all real estate stories are good real estate stories