A Lake Worth apartment complex owned by Grant Cardone that is Palm Beach County’s largest supplier of workforce housing was found to have overcharged tenants for years.
Wellington Club, the Cardone Capital-owned apartments at 9855 Herons Nest Court, left workforce units vacant and overcharged eligible tenants, according to an investigation by the Palm Beach Post. The investigation found tenants were overcharged 65 times since 2019, and many have yet to be compensated.
On paper, the complex supplies the county with 154 workforce housing units, the largest single source of discounted units in the county’s housing program. In practice, the development has failed to meet that number. According to records obtained by the Post, for three consecutive years Wellington Club reported vacant workforce units, while overcharging workforce tenants.
For the 2018-2019 reporting period, 18 units were reported vacant and 27 tenants were overcharged. In 2019-2020, the complex reported 15 vacant units and overcharged 11 tenants, and in 2020-2021 it reported one vacancy and overcharged 21 tenants, the investigation found.
A Cardone Capital attorney told the outlet that it “was and is unaware” of overcharging issues at the Wellington Club, and that it relies on the property manager to maintain compliance.
Last winter, Palm Beach County officials ordered the complex to correct the rents and compensate tenants, the outlet reported. In response, the complex, managed by Austin-headquartered RPM Living, quietly adjusted rents with little explanation to the affected tenants.
The compliance issues at Wellington Club reveal the challenges facing the county’s workforce housing program at a crucial moment. Rents and home prices have surged in recent years, squeezing the middle-income residents the program aims to serve. Voters passed a measure in November to provide $200 million in developer incentives to build 20,000 affordable and workforce units in Palm Beach County over the next 10 years.
Yet, those taxpayer-funded units could ostensibly be labeled “vacant” and ultimately do little to help with the county’s housing crisis, thanks to a county loophole that allows property owners to count vacant workforce units toward their quota. County officials told the outlet they are reconsidering this element of the workforce housing regulations.
Hundreds of workforce housing units are set to enter the Palm Beach County market in the coming months. Fort Lauderdale-based Affiliated Development eight-story apartment complex “the Grand” in West Palm Beach has about 200-units slated for workforce rates and is expected to be completed in the spring.
— Kate Hinsche