"Even though buyers won’t be able to move into them for nearly three years, dozens of people have already lined up to buy condos that will host Vancouver’s Olympic athletes in 2010.
More than 30 people were lined up Wednesday outside of Millennium Water, a multi-million dollar housing project billed as one of the last new waterfront properties in Vancouver’s red-hot housing market.
The condos are set to go on sale Thursday, but potential buyers — or their agents — have been camped out and in line since last Saturday.
Suites in the condo complex will house 2,800 athletes from around the world, but once they’re gone the condos will go to buyers who are interested as much in the real estate as they are in the history they’ll share with potential medalists.
“It’s part of the charm. It is, in fact, the Olympic village,” said real estate agent Austin Gangur.
“All of the athletes that are going to be competing in the Olympics in 2010 are going to be in the suites before the people who are going to be buying the suites take possession. So, I guess it’s positive energy getting in there before the athletes do.”
VANOC made a one time, $30 million contribution to Vancouver for the development. It’s all part of the deal to ensure Olympic athletes get top quality accommodations.
The suites range in price from $600,000 to $3.4 million. The size also varies greatly. The smallest units are about 500 square feet and the largest go up to 2,500 square feet.
But Gangur says it’s not just about size or money for his clients.
“It’s more so getting the unit that they want. So, price is no option here, but we’re hoping to get a good two-bedroom unit,” says Gangur.
One hundred units have already been pre-sold. They’ve gone to insiders and consultants associated with the project. Two hundred condos are still available.
A representative for the company selling the units said they asked the people in line to go home. They even offered to make a list so no one would lose their place in line. But that wasn’t good enough. People started to argue about how many condos they would be allowed to buy.
So, in the end dozens stayed and camped out, although they established some rules.
They allow each other lunch and bathroom breaks. But there’s a warning — stay away too long, and you could lose your spot for Olympic glory."
From http://www.ctv.ca
