Ytech sells a shuttered apartment complex in Belle Glade

The Grand Lake Apartments were cited in 2015 due to mold and unsafe conditions

Grand Lake Apartments and Yamal Yidios
Grand Lake Apartments and Yamal Yidios

UPDATED, Sept. 26, 4:20 p.m.: Miami-based Ytech sold a shuttered apartment complex in Belle Glade that was previously cited by the city due to mold and unsafe conditions.

Ytech sold the Grand Lake Apartments at 2000 South Main Street for $7.4 million, or $19,140 per unit. The buyer is Palm Glade LLC, which is managed by Irvin Pena of Southwest Ranches, records show.

The 384-unit complex sits on 32 acres. It was closed in 2018 after the owner claimed that its insurance company did not pay for repairs after Hurricane Irma, according to the Palm Beach Post.

However, the project had issues prior to the hurricane, the Palm Beach Post reported.

In August 2015, 200 residents at the complex faced the possibility of displacement because of health and safety problems that included broken or missing staircases, rodent infestations, mold, garbage, open sewer pipes and discarded mattresses and tarps in abandoned swimming pools, according to the Post, citing an inspection from the county’s fire marshal and health department.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

Belle Glade City Manager Lomax Harelle wrote a letter to Yidios Aug. 12, 2015, saying the property was “in a state of serious disrepair,” and said tenants were required to vacate the premises for their own safety.

The Palm Beach County Housing Authority lost more than $1 million in taxpayer money on a failed plan to rebuild the complex in 2012, according to the Post.

Ytech purchased the property in 2013 for $7.6 million, meaning it sold the property at a slight loss.

Belle Glade is a small agricultural community in the western part of Palm Beach County and sits on the southeastern part of Lake Okeechobee. It is known for its sugar cane production.

Ytech has developed and redeveloped more than 7,000 residential units in 25 cities in the southeastern United States, according to its website. It is led by Yamal Yidios. In 2017, the company bought the BankUnited building at 1428 Brickell Avenue in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood in a deal valued at $50 million.