Tokyo’s Olympic Village condos to become apartments

Applications for the post-Games ownership of condominium units used as the Olympic Village during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics will be accepted from late July.

The condominiums, located in Tokyo’s Harumi area, will be renovated as ordinary apartment buildings after the 2020 Games.

Because these units were built with the comfort of Olympic athletes in mind, they were designed with somewhat larger spaces than in a typical Tokyo apartment. The condominiums will be sold by a group of major real estate companies in phases.

The athletes’ village will be converted to a town complex, dubbed Harumi Flag, consisting of 24 buildings, including two high-rises as tall as 50 stories. They contain a total of 5,632 condominium units, including the 4,145 to be sold.

The condominiums in Harumi Flag are as large as about 84 square meters per unit, excluding those in the high-rises. This is about 20% larger than an ordinary condominium unit.

The units also have higher ceilings to accommodate tall athletes comfortably, passages and hallways wider than that of an ordinary condominium complex, and there are no steps throughout its spaces.

According to Real Estate Economic Institute Co., a total of 15,452 newly built condominium units were marketed in fiscal 2018 in Tokyo’s 23 wards. The units at Harumi Flag could equal as much one-fourth of the total units on the market in the year they go on sale, prompting a real estate company official to remark, “This may affect the prices of condominium units, mainly those in coastal areas.”