Why bother putting it at all though?

And to your point, if I had two of the exact same units available for rent except one had a functional balcony, I would easily pay an extra $50/month for the unit with a functioning balcony.

It appears to be a design choice in this particular area, and like I said I still don't understand the purpose. I can guess its an aesthetic thing but as resident of said home I would have much rather they had either made it functioning or not put it at all.

Perhaps people rent or buy houses with things they dont like because that's what's available and there are always tradeoffs?