I'm going to possibly expose myself to some ribbing by assuming this this a genuine question instead of a statement that just presses the joke.

By "see-through" I assume the author refers to (mostly motel style) apartment buildings that are completely unoccupied or even unfinished and hence they lack blinds, drapes, furniture, (and sometimes walls). Thus, you can completely "see-through" them from street level.

You can---by the way---see the same phenomena in the American South where gulf-relief zones made building (or to start building) new apartments/condos in some areas practically a tax-dodge but where the natives in those areas don't have the means to buy them at even a quarter (sometimes eighth) the cost.