BEIJING (AP):
IF YOU are a female gymnast, the apartments at the Athletes Village for the Beijing Olympics will seem spacious. If you're a male weightlifter, they may seem a bit cramped.
And if you're interested in buying one of the units after the Games, you will need something between US$500,000-US$1 million.
Chinese officials opened the complex of high-rise apartments to media for the first time yesterday. Located about a 25-minute walk northwest of the two centrepiece venues for the Games - the Bird's Nest stadium and swimming's Water Cube - the 66-hectare (163-acre) complex will accommodate between 16,000-17,000 athletes and officials.
"This will be the biggest non-competition venue during the Olympics," said Yu Debin, deputy director of Olympic Village Depart-ment for the Beijing organising committee.
Unlike some of Beijing's venues, the architecture in the Athletes Village is aimed at utility rather than art. Building façades are done in gray brick trimmed with black marble, dark wood and white stone. The complex is made of 22 six-storey buildings and 20 that reach nine storeys.
The village will also contain a restaurant that can feed 5,000-6,000, a library, a clinic, swimming pools, tennis courts, basketball courts, jogging tracks, shopping areas and coffee shops. The Village will also have its own fire station.
Modestly decorated
The apartments themselves are modestly decorated in marble and wood with balconies overlooking walkway and courtyards.
A unit in Building 10, Column 2 was opened for viewing and described as "typical".
The three-bedroom units, meant to accommodate six, seemed small but officials said they measured 170 square metres (1,830 sq. ft.). The four-bedroom units are rated at 240 square metres (2,600 sq. ft.). All have toilet and bath facilities that can be used by Paralympic athletes. The standard bed is two-metres (6-feet-7 inches) long, though many offer 40 centimetre (16 inches) extensions for basketball players.
Some bedrooms are spacious but others are tight, with two beds nearly touching each other.
About 7,000 Paralympic athletes and officials will move into the village just days after the Olympics close on August 24.
After the Olympics and Paralym-pics, the apartments will be refitted for sale. It's been widely reported the units have already sold out at prices quoted between 20,000-30,000 yuan (US$2,800-$4,220) per square metre (10.8 sq. ft.). In round numbers, that means apartments will cost in the area of US$500,000-US$1 million - considered high even in Beijing's soaring property market.
The converted buildings are supposed to be ready late in 2009.
