Can you live in the Olympic Village after the games are over?
During the 2024 games, the Olympic Village has been a site of intrigue for viewers at home, with many curious about what’s available at the dining hall, the state of air conditioning or lack thereof, and the free health care.
But what happens to all these units, which house tens of thousands of athletes, after the games are over?
Paris plans to convert its dormitories in the village into 2,800 new apartment units. But past cities who hosted the Olympics and converted their buildings faced varying success. Those who succeed can still fail to live up to their promise of providing housing that’s affordable to residents.
In Paris, private developers built the housing, but both the government and private companies will manage the village. This is the typical model that host cities have adopted, according to the New York Times. That can be a tricky balance, because the Times said taxpayers expect affordable housing, while private investors hope to turn a profit.
Building the village and other facilities pose a huge financial risk. The 2016 Rio games lost about $2 billion. The city of Montreal and the province of Quebec spent 30 years paying off the debt they accrued during the 1976 games.
The economist Victor Matheson told Marketplace he thinks these countries are willing to accumulate massive amounts of debt in an effort to bolster their image. “You’re hoping for some sort of long-run benefits, some sort of legacy, and often that is an improvement in your reputation, either as a tourist destination or as a world player in some ways,” he said.
Here’s a look at what’s happened to the Olympic Village in several cities over the years.
Tokyo (2021)
Tokyo’s Olympic Village was located in the Harumi waterfront district. There are 21 towers in the area, with each between 14 to 18 stories high — enough to house 18,000 athletes and personnel. It cost an estimated $2 billion to build the village.
The area was converted into a residential complex and began allowing residents to live there earlier this year, according to the Japanese publication Asahi Shimbun. An apartment with a floor space of about 540 square feet is between 40 million yen and 50 million yen, which amounts to between around $272,600 and $341,000. That’s about 30% cheaper than other housing in the region, according to Toshiaki Nakayama, vice president of the think tank Lifull Home’s Soken, in an interview with the publication.
Residents will primarily be families with small kids and double-income households without kids, Nakayama told the publication. Two additional condominium buildings are also under construction, and will be available for sale and rental next year. In 2025, the complex is expected to house 12,000 residents.
Rio de Janeiro (2016)
The Rio Olympics’ dorms, which contained 3,600 apartments, cost $700 million to build. They were supposed to be turned into luxury condos. Developers had plans to sell some of the luxury apartments for up to $700,000. But a year after the games, the buildings remained largely empty and just 7% had been sold, an Associated Press reporter tweeted.
But some of these venues have been, or will be, repurposed into sports schools and parks.
In total, the games lost an estimated $2 billion. It cost more than $13 billion to host them, according to an analysis from the Associated Press.
London (2012)
The Olympic Village in Stratford, East London, has now been branded the East Village, which accommodates more than 7,000 residents. The occupancy rate in 2016 stood at 95%, according to the International Olympic Committee’s website. The village cost 1.1 billion pounds to build; 1.1 billion pounds in 2012 is now equivalent to more than 1.6 billion pounds, or more than $2 billion.
Financiers, lawyers and creatives live in the region, which has cafes, bars, book clubs and fitness classes, reported the BBC back in 2022.
But a government health care worker told the BBC that the village is not inclusive and many people are priced out from living there. In 2022, a two-bedroom flat cost £2,300 a month, which is equivalent to more than $3,260 in today’s dollars. One resident said there’s a divide between the East Village and the rest of Stratford, a “historically deprived area.”
Vancouver (2010)
The Olympic Village for the 2010 Winter Games turned into a luxury waterfront neighborhood, with 1,100 residential units. Vancouver’s Best Places touts activities and attractions that are nearby, including a science center, parks and pubs. The village cost $1.1 billion in Canadian dollars to construct, according to The Province, a Canadian newspaper. After adjusting for inflation in CAD, that’s equivalent to about $1.1 billion in today’s U.S. dollars.
The rental price for a one-bedroom condo can go from between $2,600 a month to $2,900 in Canadian dollars, according to listings posted in the past year. That’s the equivalent of about $1,890 to $2,110 in U.S. dollars.
A two-bedroom condo can range from between $4,150 a month to $7,750. That’s between about $3,020 and $5,640 in U.S. dollars.
These prices are out of reach for many Canadians in a city that bears the distinction of being the most expensive in the country. The city initially wanted to make many of the housing units in the Olympic Village affordable, but promises to be inclusive failed short, said North Vancouver-based journalist Bob Mackin in an interview with CTV News, a Canadian television network.
“Early on, the Olympic Village was supposed to be about two-thirds social housing, but as time wore on, even before the recession happened, they looked at the opportunity and said ‘You can’t lose this opportunity, this is prime waterfront land,’” Mackin told CTV News.
Sydney (2000)
More than 1,500 families live in the Sydney suburb that previously accommodated more than 15,000 athletes and officials during the 2000 Summer Games. Two- and three-bedroom homes “dominate” the type of housing in that area, according to the IOC. The village cost $590 million in Australian dollars to build, according to the South African website News24. After adjusting for inflation in AUD, that’s equivalent to about $730 million in today’s U.S. dollars.
A typical house in the Newington neighborhood can cost almost $2 million AUD, according to realestate.com.au, an Australian website that tracks property values. That’s equivalent to about $1.3 million in U.S. dollars.
The website said housing prices in the region are up 15%, which is more than twice as fast as housing price increases in Sydney. However, some still find the housing there to be a good deal compared to other nearby suburbs. Most of the original buyers were families with kids under 11, which is still the case, but today they tend to have much higher incomes, a local real estate agent told the site.
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