The Safest Home Site on Earth is now for sale. Imagine an underground complex that reaches almost 200 feet below the surface. Built to withstand a nuclear blast, 500 mile-per-hour winds, and any conceivable disaster, be it a global pandemic, nuclear winter, electro-magnetic pulse, meteor strike, or even a zombie apocalypse. Sound like the trailer for a science fiction movie? It’s not. Beginning in the 1950s, the U.S. Government built many of these impenetrable underground missile silos during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. In current, inflation-adjusted dollars, each silo cost over $110 million to build. As technology developed and the country’s defense strategy shifted to submarine-based platforms, some of the deactivated underground silos were sold to the public. In 1979, President Carter and Soviet Premier Brezhnev signed the Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty ( SALT II), which restricted the nuclear arms arsenals of both countries, prohibited silo sales to the public and mandated that remaining silos would be imploded and the cavernous, 200-feet deep holes be filled in. Only a handful of defunct silo locations escaped complete or partial destruction. Captain Paul Novitzke, founder of Duckncover LLC, has spent much of his life at sea, piloting mega yachts for the ultra-rich. In a strange way, purchasing and renovating an underground missile silo felt like a familiar project. “Overhauling one of these subterranean facilities is a lot like overhauling a mega yacht,” Novitzke explained. “Both are large-scale projects that contain multiple, independent systems that allow them to operate under harsh conditions.” Having observed the skyrocketing number of recent catastrophic natural events coupled with the arrival of the Coronavirus, Novitzke realized that his defunct missile site could be repurposed as the ultimate, private safe house. Arriving at the 18-acre site in the vast, verdant plains of Kansas, a passcode is needed to enter the new solar powered electric gate. Cruising up the long private driveway, there is little evidence above ground of the 182-foot-deep silo and two-level command center hidden below. All that is visible above ground is a small concrete structure with a metal door. Once inside, the doorway opens to a stairwell that descends two floors below. Next, one must open the first of a set of two 7,000-pound, solid steel blast-doors. These are the kind of doors that one would expect to find protecting a vault inside Fort Knox. From there, the underground tunnel leads to the two-story Command Center where each level measures 1250 square feet. Venturing further down the stairway, another tunnel and a second set of blast doors lead to the missile launch silo. Built with nine-foot-thick walls, composed of 6,000 psi epoxy and rebar reinforced concrete, the silo measures 52 feet in diameter and 172 feet deep. This space is able to accommodate development of a 17 story complex of 2,000sqft per floor. The possibilities to develop this unique property and underground space are endless. A similar Atlas F site in New York State features a house above the underground complex which was developed as an expansive secure basement living area. Another site in Kansas utilizes the launch silo as a multi-story condominium complex. The Launch Control area space, approximately 2,500 square feet, on two separate levels is prepped and ready for custom finishes as a safe house, ultra-private meeting space, or climate controlled storage area. Fresh water, electric power, sewage systems and high speed fiber internet access are already in place. The 18 acre fenced property offers plenty of space and ideal weather conditions for a solar power and or wind power system. More details about the North Star Missile Silo project can be found at www.nothstarmissilesilo.com. To preserve the silo’s future security, interested buyers must sign a confidentiality agreement before the exact location and price will be shared. Please contact: Paul Novitzke. Duckncover LLC, info@northstarmissilesilo.com, (785) 577-3300
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