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49-449: The Vancouver Olympic Village ( VVL ) is a neighbourhood and Olympic Village built by Millennium Development Group in Vancouver , British Columbia , Canada, originally built for the 2010 Winter Olympics and 2010 Winter Paralympics . The site is located on the shoreline at the southeast corner of False Creek , north of First Avenue between Ontario and Columbia Streets. Boasting over

98-625: A $ 458 million shortfall. On 15 January 2009, the deputy city manager overseeing construction of the Olympic Village resigned. Prime minister Stephen Harper ruled out any possibility of a bailout from the federal government. With time running out, mayor Gregor Robertson made a request to the provincial government to amend the Vancouver Charter to allow the city to borrow extra funds, asserting that losses would be mitigated by rising property values. On 18 January 2009, an emergency meeting of

147-455: A bed. More than 60 condo owners at the Village filed a class-action lawsuit against the builder. The lawsuits were subsequently dropped. Rennie Marketing Systems executive director Bob Rennie mentioned that any construction deficiencies were "minor". “On TV, a toilet leaked,” he said. “That ran for three minutes and everybody thought that the whole village was like that.” In September 2007,

196-604: A hospital, a fire station, and a post office. Following the 1932 Games, a Village would be created for every edition of the Summer Games, apart from the 1948 London Games due to material challenges brought on by the immediate post-war period . For the Winter Games between 1924 and 1956, the teams would still mainly stay in hotels, with the exception of the 1952 Games in Oslo , where three accommodation sites were created. Women, on

245-591: A museum in Chinatown's Wing Sang building, the oldest (1889) building in Chinatown. Four years and over $ 10 million were spent renovating the building to transform the heritage landmark into an exhibit space for the Rennie Collection, open to the public free of charge. On top of the museum was an art piece by world-renowned artist Martin Creed , "EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT" (Work No 850). Creed's installation inspired

294-460: A plate lunch for developer colleagues to have a private audience with then-mayor Gregor Robertson . The $ 25k lunch became the subject of a popular local internet meme. In 2012, Rennie made a major contribution to the National Gallery of Canada with his donation of Brian Jungen 's 2004 artwork Court . Consisting of 210–240 factory sewing tabletops repainted to look like a basketball court,

343-633: A significant increase in quantities distributed, reaching 450,000 condoms at the Rio Olympics in 2016. Prototype complexes: Official Olympic Villages Bob Rennie Bob Rennie (born 1956) is an art collector and a real estate marketer based in Vancouver , British Columbia. He is the founder and executive director of Rennie, a Vancouver based real estate marketing firm. The company's business divisions include Rennie developer services, Rennie consumer services (real estate brokerage), Rennie advisory services, Rennie rental services and technology. He

392-453: A thousand units, ranging over a million square feet, the Village was able to accommodate over 2,800 athletes, coaches, and officials for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Following the Olympics, the accommodations became residential housing. Today, the Village is a mixed-use community, with approximately 1,100 residential units, area parks, and various retail and service outlets. Southeast False Creek

441-475: A three-way deal was struck to complete the village with minimal public money: the developer, Millennium Developments, would build the project and sell the units as condominiums, borrowing funds from New York-based investment firm Fortress Investment Group , with the City of Vancouver acting as guarantor, leasing the land to Millennium until the games were complete. Amid high supply and labour costs, slow condo sales, and

490-628: Is consistently listed in Vancouver Magazine's annual Power 50; in 2011 he was named No. 8. In 2002 he was a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal , and in 2012 the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal , both of which are awarded to Canadians who have made a significant contribution to their fellow citizens, their community, or to Canada. Simon Fraser University awarded him

539-637: Is known colloquially as the "condo king". Rennie is deeply involved in the art community locally and internationally, and he maintained his own art museum in Chinatown 's Wing Sang building until fairly recently gifting it to the Chinese History Society. Bob Rennie was born in 1956 and raised in East Vancouver on East 5th. His mother was a homemaker and waitress, and his father a truck driver for Carling Brewery. Rennie started selling East Side homes at

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588-648: Is the neighbourhood development that was built around the Olympic Village and in which the Village now sits at the core of. The Whistler Olympic and Paralympic Village (WVL), located in Whistler, British Columbia , also served the 2010 Winter Olympics and the 2010 Winter Paralympics . Smaller than the VVL, it accommodated 2,400 athletes, coaches, and officials with 450 beds made especially with wheelchair access. Site preparation began in 2006 with construction starting in March 2007 and it

637-665: Is usually spread across the globe, on loan to institutions like Guggenheim Museum New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art , Centre Georges Pompidou , Smithsonian and Tate , amongst many others. A former chair of the North America Acquisitions Committee (NAAC) at Tate Museum in London , Rennie currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Tate International Council. In 2015, Rennie joined

686-477: The 1932 Summer Games in Los Angeles is considered to be the first official modern Olympic Village, with a capacity of 2,000 people and located to the west of the city. Consisting of a group of buildings with rooms to lodge athletes (men only), as well as providing a place to eat and train, it serves as the model for today's Olympic Villages. It also provided certain community services for the first time, including

735-687: The 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland . After the Munich Massacre at the 1972 Olympics , the Villages have been made extremely secure. The beds at the 2024 Olympics were made out of cardboard and featured modular mattress sections, which enabled the mattress to be customized and recycled after the event. The mattress sections, which use neither foam nor springs, could be selected in firmness from soft to harder. Some athletes did not sleep well and were given an additional mattress topper , nevertheless

784-497: The 1972 Olympics , the Villages have been made extremely secure. Only athletes, trainers and officials are allowed to room at the Village, though family members and former Olympic athletes are allowed inside with proper checks. Press and media are also barred. For the first editions of the modern Olympic Games, between 1896 and 1920 , there were no official living arrangements for athletes. Some athletes stayed in hotels or hostels, others in schools or barracks, and some even slept in

833-478: The City of Vancouver officially paid down the entire $ 630 million debt of the Olympic Village development and recovered an additional $ 70 million. On 12 December 2014, the City unveiled a plaque honouring Millennium Development Group's role in designing, developing and constructing the Olympic Village, named "Millennium Water Olympic Village". The wording on the plaque states: North America's first LEED Platinum community

882-615: The Legislative Assembly approved Bill 47, the Vancouver Charter Amendment Act , allowing the City of Vancouver to borrow unlimited sums for the Olympic Village--without the ordinary voter referendum required by previous legislation. The city then proceeded to buy out Fortress's share of the project, becoming the sole lender to Millennium. In November 2010, seven months after the successful completion of

931-714: The Woodward's Building and One Wall Centre . Rennie Collection, one of the largest collections of contemporary art in Canada, has evolved since 1974, when the first acquisition was made, to focus on works related to identity, social injustice, appropriation, painting and photography. The collection is dedicated not only to the acquisition of established international artists, but also the work of emerging artists. Currently, there are approximately 48 artists collected in depth with over 370 artists in total. The collection, while based in Vancouver,

980-502: The municipal election in November 2008. The election resulted in the defeat of the NPA : candidate Peter Ladner was defeated, and Vision Vancouver gained control of council and the mayoralty. Ladner's defeat has been directly ascribed to the secret loan, as Vision promised more transparency in the city's finances. At the beginning of 2009, costs continued to go over budget and the city faced

1029-423: The 2010 Winter Olympics. Following the Olympics, the accommodations became residential housing. Today, the Village is a mixed-use community, with approximately 1,100 residential units, area parks, and various retail and service outlets. Southeast False Creek is the designation given to the neighbourhood that the Olympic Village resides in, bordered by Cambie , Main , West 2nd Avenue, and False Creek . In 2012,

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1078-617: The 2012 Vancouver Heritage Foundation Honour for Exceptional Heritage Conservation. Rennie is a vocal opponent to the proposed move of the Vancouver Art Gallery from the current location in Robson Square to a newly constructed building on the city-owned Larwill Park (formerly the bus depot) next to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre . He questions the fiscal responsibility of the move, estimated to cost $ 400 million, as well as

1127-739: The Board of Trustees at The Art Institute of Chicago . Rennie sits on the Dean's Advisory Board to the Faculty of Arts at the University of British Columbia since 2003 and the University Art Committee since 2006 and is a former member of the Board of Governors at Emily Carr University of Art and Design . Since 2015, Rennie has been featured in ArtNews Magazine's annual top 200 collectors list. Rennie had

1176-504: The Malekyazdi family and hundreds of men and women who helped make this vision a reality. 49°16′15″N 123°6′24″W  /  49.27083°N 123.10667°W  / 49.27083; -123.10667 Olympic Village Olympic Villages are built to house all participating athletes during the two weeks of the Games, as well as officials and athletic trainers. After the Games are over,

1225-458: The Olympic Village is typically sold or rented to the local population and turned into a new residential zone for the host city. The accommodation provided for the 1932 Summer Games in Los Angeles is considered to be the first official modern Olympic Village, and the first permanent Olympic Village was established at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland . After the Munich massacre at

1274-576: The South Pacific, the Olympic Village was a cruise ship, in the 2024 games. At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, organizers distributed 300,000 condoms to athletes, staff, and members of the press in the Olympic Village to promote comfort and enthusiasm among the more than 14,000 residents. This tradition of distributing condoms at the Olympics dates back to the Seoul Olympics in 1988 and has since seen

1323-631: The Spyglass Place pedestrian ferry wharf (served by Aquabus and False Creek Ferries ), the Science World pedestrian ferry wharf (normally served by Aquabus and False Creek Ferries but closed temporarily from 25 January 2010 to 24 March 2010), and the Main Street and Olympic Village SkyTrain stations. Boasting over a thousand units, ranging over a million square feet, the Village was able to accommodate over 2,800 athletes, coaches, and officials for

1372-474: The age of 19. He began selling condos in Vancouver in 1990 with Dan Ulinder, forming Ulinder Rennie Project Marketing. In 1997 Rennie bought out Ulinder and established Rennie Marketing Systems. Bob Rennie lives in Vancouver with his family, including his son Kris Rennie who is president of Rennie. He has marketed such projects as Fairmont Pacific Rim , Living Shangri-La (Vancouver's tallest tower) and Vancouver's 2010 Olympic Village . Other projects include

1421-975: The board for the Streetohome Foundation, a local organization that aims to help ensure the homeless in Vancouver have access to safe, decent, affordable housing and support services. The project has raised $ 26 million to date and resulted in the building of 1000 non-market homes. Rennie is also a noted supporter of Vancouver General Hospital . His past memberships include the University of British Columbia Art Committee, Board of Governors for Emily Carr University and Commissioner of BC Housing Management Commission Board. His current memberships include Council for Canadian American Relations (CCAR) , BCIT Inspire Campaign Cabinet , British Columbia Centre on Abuse Community Engagement Board, Urban Development Institute (UDI) , Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics Advisory Board and Mayor's Economic Advisory Committee. Rennie

1470-653: The boats they had taken to the host city. The prototype for the Olympic Village comes from Pierre de Coubertin , then president of the International Olympic Committee . The "General Technical Rules" applicable to the 1924 Summer Games in Paris stipulated that "The Organising Committee for the Olympic Games is required to provide the athletes with accommodation, bedding and food, at a fixed rate which shall be set beforehand per person and per day…." As result,

1519-504: The former 2010 Olympic Village , a project that has been the subject of controversy and extensive media attention around the project's financial challenges for several years. Since 2004, he has accumulated over two hundred parking tickets, of which he refers to as "the cost of being busy", all of which have been paid. Amidst a growing housing affordability crisis in the run-up to the 2014 Vancouver municipal election , Rennie raised eyebrows and some outrage organizing an exclusive $ 25,000

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1568-525: The games, the village's holding company and the City of Vancouver agreed to place the property into voluntary receivership. In 2014, a Vancouver Sun review by Rob MacDonald, a notable Vancouver developer, praised Millennium for their accomplishment in creating the Vancouver Olympic Village under trying circumstances. The same year, the city sold off the last shares in the project and cleared its debt from 2009. A later assessment in 2020 regarded

1617-582: The image with the IOC. The controversy sparked a demand for a version of the boxing-kangaroo flag at a Vancouver flag shop. Following the Olympics, the Village became a mixed-use community with approximately 1,100 residential units, area parks, and various retail and service outlets. In 2012, the site had 252 affordable housing units and another 100 units are for "modest market housing". The City of Vancouver projected that Southeast False Creek would eventually become home to up to 16,000 people by 2020. On 28 April 2014,

1666-574: The issue of Olympic village beds made international news and were the subject of widespread media interest. Beds with a cardboard frame previously debuted at the 2020 Tokyo games in 2021. The beds, despite being made of cardboard are noted for their sturdiness and recyclablity, in addition, they were designed with colorful Olympic themed bedding, with words such as "Paris 2024, and on the frame " Rêvez vos exploits de demain" , or in English, “Dream about your achievements of tomorrow.” The 2024 Olympic Village

1715-495: The issue with John Coates, chief of the AOC, it was confirmed that the flag could remain at the Olympic Village. "While the IOC is of the view that the display of the boxing kangaroo at the Olympic village is a breach of the IOC rules relating to clean venues, the IOC is not going to request us to take down the boxing kangaroo flag on this occasion," Coates said. The AOC was required to register

1764-466: The ongoing U.S. subprime mortgage crisis , Fortress halted its funds in September 2008, leaving Millennium in "anticipatory default". Thus, the city in its role as guarantor became responsible for finding funds to complete the project. In October 2008, city council advanced $ 100 million to Millennium, which was not made public until three weeks after. The city's Chief Financial Officer resigned shortly before

1813-544: The organizers built wooden huts and established an accommodation centre near the Stade Olympique de Colombes called the "Olympic Village," allowing the various world teams to stay in the same location, under the same conditions, and with common services. Consideration was given to creating an Olympic Village ahead of the 1928 Games in Amsterdam , but the organizers opted for other solutions. The accommodation provided for

1862-519: The other hand, stayed in other accommodation sites until 1952. This changed with the Melbourne Games of 1956 , where women had their own part of the main Olympic Village. This area of the Village would not admit male athletes, and it was only from the 1984 Games in Los Angeles onward that athletes were accommodated by team rather than gender. The first permanent Olympic Village was established at

1911-429: The plan to hire an international architect. Rennie has been criticized for trying to gentrify Vancouver's Downtown Eastside , one of the poorest communities in Canada, with the Woodward's Building project, which includes 536 condominiums and 200 non-market homes. Critics said that the project pushed residents out and increased rent for the neediest members of the city. Rennie is also the marketer for condominiums at

1960-495: The project as a success, creating a thriving neighbourhood. A giant banner hung from the Village by members of the Australian team attracted controversy in early February 2010 when a member of the International Olympic Committee toured the site and expressed concern that it might contravene policy, as the banner is not the flag of Australia but rather depicts a kangaroo wearing boxing gloves . The Australian deputy prime minister at

2009-825: The site began in February 2006. Construction was completed on 1 November 2009 by Millennium Development Group, and turned over to the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) for use during the Winter Games. On 7 April 2010, it was returned to the City of Vancouver . The village was converted into residential housing, a community centre, daycare, retail, and service spaces. Residents released video documenting problems with their units, including water pouring out of light fixtures, heat not working, cracks in ceilings, hardwood floors bubbling from moisture and bedrooms too small to fit

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2058-548: The site had 252 affordable housing units and another 100 units are for "modest market housing". The City of Vancouver projected that Southeast False Creek would eventually become home to up to 16,000 people by 2020. As part of the development, Millennium Development Group built the Creekside Community Recreation Centre, a 45,000 sq ft (4,200 m) LEED platinum -standard community centre that opened in summer 2010. Preparation and construction of

2107-572: The time Julia Gillard called the request for the banner's removal a disgrace. According to a representative of the Australian team, the flag has been at every Olympic Village since the 2000 Games in Sydney. The image had flown from the victorious Australian yacht in the 1983 America's Cup and is now a mascot of Australia's Olympic teams; the Australian Olympic Committee owns the image's trademark. After IOC president Jacques Rogge discussed

2156-438: The title of Julia Kwan 's 2014 documentary film about Chinatown, Everything Will Be , in which Rennie is interviewed. The first Dan Graham pavilion in Canada used to sit on the roof of the museum. There is also a sculpture by Thomas Houseago . The Wing Sang Building received multiple awards including the 2010 Architectural Institute of British Columbia Special Jury Award, the 2011 City of Vancouver Heritage Award and

2205-572: The work has previously never been shown in Canada. A further 197 artworks were donated to the National Gallery of Canada in honour of Canada's 150th anniversary . The works, by some of the most internationally recognized Canadian artists ( Geoffrey Farmer , Rodney Graham , Brian Jungen , Damian Moppett and Ian Wallace ) as well as globally acclaimed artist Doris Salcedo , are valued at more than $ 12 million. As well as his extensive work with museums and art-related organizations, Rennie sits on

2254-540: Was completed in Summer 2009. The site, a former industrial area which mostly consisted of parking lots, is located on the shoreline at the southeast corner of False Creek , north of First Avenue between Ontario and Columbia Streets. Just south of Science World , its waterfront is part of the False Creek Seawall promenade and bike route, and is adjacent to the stations of the former Vancouver Downtown Historic Railway ,

2303-430: Was designed, developed and constructed by Peter and Shahram Malek's Millennium Development Group in time to open as the athletes' village for the successful Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Formerly an industrial site, Millennium Water Olympic Village was the catalyst for the revitalization of the surrounding False Creek neighbourhood and is a testament to the innovation, hard work and community spirit of

2352-433: Was some concerns about the amount of food of certain types being available. Overall conditions were compared to communal living in a college dormitory , with small rooms and shared bathrooms. The Olympic village hosted up to 14 thousand athletes and coaches for two weeks, with an eye for sustainability; after the event the buildings will be converted to office space and apartments. At the surfing competition events held in

2401-416: Was the first to feature a kids/nursery area for those with small children or babies. There was also reports that some rooms in the 2024 were too warm and lacked ventilation and cooling. Other concerns were directed at the food in the Olympic Village and privacy level. The cafeteria featured several styles of food including French, Asian, Caribbean, and others, with chocolate muffins going viral, but there

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