If you are looking for somewhere to hide when global warming finally destroys us all in a nuclear blast followed by anarchy, why not a $2 million condo?
Well, it seems your chance has passed. These luxury disaster-proof, underground condos in rural Kansas are all sold out.
The structure (shown at left), which is the brainchild of Larry Hall – a former software engineer, is being built from a hollowed out Atlas F missile silo, and includes such amenities as a pool, a movie theater, a classroom and minor surgery center.
The 15-story building – dubbed “Survival Condos” – has six full-floor residences and one half-floor residence. The full-floor condos (shown below) have three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room and a great room and go for $2 million. The half-floor condos go for $1 million, have one or two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen and a great room.
All of the condos feature state-of-the-art kitchen appliances, granite or custom concrete counters, Jacuzzi tubs in the master bath and a list of other amenities that would be attractive in any condo – much less one with 2.5 to 9 foot thick walls that will protect against nuclear war and shockwaves traveling up to 2,000mph.
So why the protection?
“Because of all of the perceived threats in the world, everything from global food shortages to civil unrest to economic uncertainty,” said Hall.
This isn’t a new idea – a company called Vivos is selling underground survival shelters priced from $25,000 per person – but it is a whole new level of luxury. And unlike Vivos, which you have to apply for and are selected for membership based on the contributions you are able to offer to the survival of the community, with these condos you just have to be able to fork out $2 million.
But, Hall said he’s not really worried about their ability to survive.
“In a perfect world, you get a good mix of people with different skill sets and that’s what we were hoping for. It looks like we are going to get that with the final mix of people,” he said.
And if that fails, the bunker comes equipped with enough food to feed 70 people for quite a while, state of the art water filtration systems and a psychologist-approved layout to prevent people from going stir crazy.
Hall said he consulted psychologists on everything from ceiling height, the quality of lighting and the square footage per person. They are the reason, for instance, that the condos come with fake windows that show you lovely pictures of the outside that adjust the lighting depending on the time of day.
Hall said the condos will be ready by the end of October, and are now about two-thirds done. And while they will be live-in ready, Hall said he doesn’t know of anyone using it as their primary residence. Most are using it as a vacation home.
I hope they enjoy those vacations, because if the world ends, they’ll be vacationing down there for quite a while.
jhuseman@housingwire.com
