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.