It can be tough to break into the real estate market, especially with the high cost of a home in cities like Toronto and Vancouver.
So why not give up on that two-bedroom condo and buy a potential supervillain lair instead?
The owner of a decommissioned nuclear silo and bunker in Arizona has put the property up for sale with a listing price of US$395,000. That works out to approximately C$522,000 for a sunshine getaway/fallout shelter of your very own.
The underground Titan II missile complex is located on a 5.1-hectare patch of desert near Catalina, Az., approximately 20 minutes away from the city of Tucson. It’s a bit of a fixer-upper as far as Cold War-era bunkers go, but it’s absolutely built to last — especially if you’re dreaming of world domination.
“This property was once one of the most top-secret of government assets and is now ready to fulfill a new mission,” real estate agent Grant Hampton writes in the listing. “That mission is for you to define.”
An illustrated floor plan shows the underground complex consists of three chambers: a launch control centre, a stairwell/junction area and a missile silo with a retractable roof. (Built-in sunroof, anyone?)
The underground complex includes about 4,000 square feet of space.
Some might describe the interior as “rustic,” though “rusty” would be more accurate. But it’s nothing a coat of paint can’t fix.
The property is being sold as-is, meaning you’ll have to supply the nuclear missiles yourself.
You’ll also have to deal with the damp smell, stagnant water and potential snakes living in the underground area of the complex.
“This is the coolest listing I’ve had to date,” Hampton told the Arizona Daily Star on Friday. He told the Arizona Republic he’s been getting 30 to 40 calls a day about the property.
Owner Rick Ellis says he’s selling the silo because he’s “bored” and ready to cash out from the facility. He bought it in 2003 to turn it into a data centre, but those plans fell apart. He says he’s already rejected offers from two interesting potential buyers: one who wanted to grow marijuana in the complex and another who wanted to turn it into a porn studio.
The U.S. military built the complex as one of 18 nuclear silos in the Tucson area in 1963 amid Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union. The facilities were decommissioned and filled with rubble in the 1980s, the Guardian reports.
Potential buyers have to prove they have the money before they can tour the facility. They must also sign a liability waiver before descending the treacherous 12-metre staircase into the bunker.
For those who simply want to look at a nuclear silo, Hampton recommends visiting the restored Titan Missile Museum in Sahuarita, Az.
Hampton and Ellis have also put together a virtual tour of the facility, in case you’re still just kicking the tires on supervillainy.
If you do buy the silo and take over the world, just remember who told you about it, OK?