Investments

Buyers ready to dive in for £11 million submarine base

The ideal secret lair for a criminal mastermind plotting world domination has surfaced on the market – at the knock-down price of £11.2 million.

If that sort of property and price tag are on your radar, then take a look at the former NATO Olavsvern Naval Submarine Base hidden in the cliffs and fjords to the north of Norway.

Unremarkable above ground, the base has around 145,000 square feet of offices, accommodation and store rooms – including a mountain resort.

Below ground is where the real action happens.

The base is built in to caverns in the bomb-proofed mountain over a massive submarine berth, dry dock and fuel depot.

If enemy agents manage to break in, a network of underground tunnels leads to safety.

The base was closed in 2002. US submarines were the last occupants, using the base as a bolt-hole for Cold War patrols in to the Arctic to probe Russian defences.

The base was built for a reputed £320 million in the Sixties.

If you can afford the price, the cost of garrisoning the base with henchmen, power and fuel would probably not be much of an issue.

Unfortunately, the base has been stripped of submarines and defensive weapons.

If the price of a submarine base is a little rich, then take a look at another military development in Kansas, USA – eight luxury apartments in converted inter-continental ballistic missile silos priced at £1.295 million each.

The turn-key developments include a jacuzzi, simulated flatscreen TV windows and daylight simulation lighting.

Meanwhile, New York State is ready to give away eight former prisons as the inmate population shrinks. The thinking is the 400 bed plus institutions can go free to the right owner just to clear the cost of maintenance off the state books to free up finances.

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