The first tenants began moving into the former Olympic Village this week, according to Vancouver officials. The first tenants began moving into the former Olympic Village this week, according to Vancouver officials. (CBC)

The first low-income residents have started moving into Vancouver's former Olympic Village, officials announced Tuesday — nine months after the close of the 2010 Winter Games.

The subsidized units are being managed by the Co-operative Housing Federation of B.C. as part of deal it struck with the city last month.

“This is great news, to have people moving into their new homes in the Village just in time for Christmas,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson in a statement released on Wednesday morning.

“Many of these people have been on waiting lists kept by BC Housing and GF Strong for many months, if not years," he said.

The city has not disclosed the exact number of units that will be rented out at subsidized rates to low-income families. But the statement did say "roughly half" of the 252 rental units run by the co-op would be rented at market rates to police, firefighters, nurses and other essential services workers.

The amount of subsidized housing at the former Olympic Village was cut in half in April in order to cover cost overruns and poor sales of about 850 other high-end units in the rest of the $1-billion development.

The city is expected to launch a marketing plan in the new year in order to sell off more than 400 units remaining in the development. It was forced to take over financing of the high-end condo project in downtown Vancouver in 2008 after the original hedge-fund investors bailed out of the deal.