BEIJING - Beijing will begin selling the last batch of unsold apartments, or about 400 in total, in the Olympic Village, a village official has said.

About 70 percent of the apartments in the Olympic Village, or Athletes' Village, in northern Beijing had been sold before the August 8-24 Olympics, said Ge Huai'en, the village's marketing director.

Journalists visit the Olympic Village in this file photo taken on March 5, 2008. [chinadaily.com.cn]

"We will sell the last 400 apartments starting mid-September at the cost of 31,000 yuan (4,558.8 U.S. dollars) per square meter," he said.

He was unable to reveal the exact date of the sale.

The price is almost twice that two years ago - the apartments in the village were sold at 16,800 yuan per square meter when they first went on to the market in December 2006.

The price is also almost twice that of normal apartments in the area, between the Fourth and Fifth Ring Road in the city. The apartments outside the Olympic Village in the area were sold at about 16,000 yuan per square meter on average in the first half of this year, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics said.

The Olympic Village, covering 27.55 hectares with a floor space of more than 500,000 square meters, was home to about 16,000 athletes and officials during the Olympics.

"We will get down to restructure and fit up the apartments as soon as the Paralympics is over," Ge said. "Buyers are expected to move in before the end of next year."

According to Ge, apartment buyers were mainly local residents before the Olympics, and after the Games, an increasing number of people from outside the capital showed interests.

He said that because of the village's association with the Olympics, it had a cachet that was attractive to investors and visitors alike.

"Some investors also look at the village optimistically, because they may consider purchasing the apartments and renting them to migrant business people and travelers," he added.