45 unreal photos of 'billionaire bunkers' that could shelter the superrich during an apocalypse
Amid growing threats to the safety of our planet, a small group of elites — namely, Silicon Valley execs and New York City financiers — have started to discuss their doomsday plans over dinner.
"Billionaire bunkers" don't need to be built from scratch.
A few companies now manufacture luxury doomsday shelters that cater to superrich clientele.
The Vivos Group, a company based in Del Mar, California, is building a "global underground shelter network" for high-end clients.
Their fanciest compound, known as Europa One, is located beneath a 400-foot-tall mountain in the village of Rothenstein, Germany.
The shelter was once a storage space for Soviet military equipment during the Cold War, according to the company's website.
Source: Vivos
In exchange for purchasing a bunker, residents are provided with a full-time staff and security team.
The property is designed to withstand a close-range nuclear blast, airline crash, earthquake, flood, or military attack.
A typical living quarters has two floors. On the lower level (shown below), there are multiple bedrooms, a pool table, and a movie theater.
Each family is allotted 2,500 square feet, but has the option to extend their residence to 5,000 square feet.
This sample movie theater can fit a family of five.
The bunker includes communal spaces, such as a pub for tossing back a few while the world comes to an end.
Or a chapel for sending prayers to the rest of humanity.
When doomsday arrives, the company envisions residents arriving in Germany by car or plane. From there, Vivos will transport them via helicopter to their sheltered homes.
The full underground structure stretches nearly 230,000 square feet.
There are only 34 private living quarters, so space is limited.
But the price will likely preclude most people from buying. Private apartments start at $2.5 million and fully furnished, semi-private suites start at around $40,000 a person.
If billionaires can't find space at Europa One, there's also xPoint, a compound in South Dakota that's almost the size of Manhattan.
xPoint was originally built by Army engineers.
The compound's location near the Black Hills of South Dakota makes it relatively safe from flooding and nuclear targets, according to Vivos.
xPoint comes with its own electrical and water systems, so residents can survive for at least a year without having to go outside.
The entire compound consists of 575 bunkers, each with enough space for 10 to 24 people.
Each bunker is around 2,200 square feet.
The bunkers start at $35,000, but residents will also have to pay $1,000 in annual rent. That'll likely require some savings when it's unsafe to go outdoors.
The company has yet another shelter in Indiana, which can house just 80 people.
The communal living room has 12-foot-high ceilings.
Residents aren't expected to bring anything other than clothing and medication.
Vivos provides the rest, including laundry facilities, food, toiletries, and linens.
There's even exercise equipment and pet kennels.
The shelter is co-owned by its members, which makes it slightly more affordable than the company's other models.
Vivos claims on its website that the shelter is safe from tsunamis, earthquakes, and nuclear attacks.
In a statement, the company said interest in its shelters has "skyrocketed over the past few years." The website says that "few" spaces remain across its network of bunkers.
Source: Vivos
Vivos members aren't all elite one-percenters, the company said, "but rather well-educated, average people with a keen awareness of the current global events."
The Survival Condo Project, on the other hand, caters exclusively to the superrich.
The company's 15-story facility, fashioned from a retired missile silo, cost $20 million to build.
In an interview with the New Yorker, the company's CEO, Larry Hall, said his facility represented "true relaxation for the ultra-wealthy."
Source: The New Yorker
The facility only has room for about a dozen families, or 75 people in total.
The facility is somewhere north of Wichita, Kansas, but its exact location is secret.
A single unit is relatively small — around 1,820 square feet.
As of last year, units were advertised for $3 million each. The company also sells half-floor units for around $1.5 million.
All floors are connected by a high-speed elevator.
Homeowners can venture outside, but there are SWAT team-style trucks available to pick them up within 400 miles.
Under a crisis scenario, residents have to secure permission from the company's board of directors before leaving the premises.
But conditions inside are far from unbearable. The facility comes with a gym, game center, dog park, classroom, and 75-foot swimming pool.
There's even a rock wall. Doomsday has never sounded so luxurious.
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