When the apocalypse arrives, life goes on.
That’s the possibility some are preparing for, at least.
In 2008, Larry Hall purchased a retired missile silo — an underground structure made for the storage and launch of nuclear weapon-carrying missiles — for $300,000 and converted it into apartments for people who worry about Armageddon and have cash to burn.
Fortified shelters, built to withstand catastrophic events from viral epidemics to nuclear war, seem to be experiencing a wave of interest in general.
Hall’s Survival Condo Project, in Kansas, cost about million to build and accommodates roughly a dozen families. Complete with food stores, fisheries, gardens, and a pool, the development could pass as a setting in the game “Fallout Shelter,” wherein players oversee a group of post-apocalyptic residents in an underground vault.
Take a look inside one of the world’s most extravagant doomsday shelters.
The Survival Condo Project is no ordinary condo development.
It sits inside a missile silo built during the height of the Cold War. The structure housed a nuclear warhead from 1961 to 1965 and was built to withstand a direct nuclear blast.
Larry Hall, who previously developed networks and data centers for government contractors, got the idea to convert the base after the attacks on September 11, 2001, when the federal government began reinvesting more heavily in catastrophe planning.
“I was aware of the availability [of the site] from working on government contracts,” Hall told Business Insider in 2017. He purchased the silo for $300,000 in 2008.
Though the exact location is top-secret, Hall said it’s situated north of Wichita, Kansas, surrounded by rolling hills and farmland.
The quarters are comparable in size to smaller city dwellings. A full-floor unit covers about 1,820 square feet, which is little more than a third of a basketball court. It fits six to 10 people.
The construction costs were nearly $20 million. The once vacant chamber now has 15 floors divided into 12 single-family homes as well as common areas and space for operations.
The typical full-floor apartment includes three bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen, a dining room, and a great room. Bunk beds are a necessity for fitting in the whole family.
Tenants will hardly be roughing it. The homes each have a dishwasher, washer and dryer, and windows fitted with LED screens that show a live video of the prairie outside.
A full-floor unit is advertised for .4 million, and a half-floor unit goes for half the price. Several units are currently available for sale. All are furnished.
Available listings can be found on the Survival Project’s website.
Hall told Business Insider that when North Korea conducts a test of its nuclear weapons or other significant global events occur, he experiences a surge in calls from interested buyers.
The Survival Condo Project offers more than a place to call home. Every purchase includes mandatory survival training, a five-year food supply per person, and internet access.
The bunker plans to feed homeowners for years to come. It raises tilapia in fish tanks and grows vegetables under lamps.
The Aquaponic and hydroponic systems are currently active.
There is also a mini grocery store and general store.
There are medical facilities in the bunker …
… and even a classroom.
As for recreation, there is a swimming pool that stretches 75 feet and includes a water slide.
Tenants can burn calories at a gym …
… which has a rock climbing wall.
Or take their pet for a walk in the dog park.
There’s an armory equipped with guns and ammo, so homeowners can defend themselves against intruders. They can practice their skills at the indoor shooting range.
A high-speed elevator (that looks like it could be a prop from “Blade Runner”) connects all 15 floors.
In the event of a crisis, Hall told The New Yorker that adults are prohibited from leaving the property without permission from the Survival Condo Project’s board of directors.
Source: The New Yorker
If Armageddon, nuclear warfare, or a viral epidemic ever comes, SWAT team-style trucks are ready to pick up homeowners within a four-hundred-mile radius of the bunker.
These days, Hall told Business Insider that it’s the “ever-increasing threats to society, both natural and manmade” that keep him up at night.
Fortunately, he has a safe place to crash.
This article originally appeared on Business Insider. Follow @BusinessInsider on Twitter.
