Interest from wealthy buyers has soared for luxury underground bunkers in South Dakota since the outbreak of the global coronavirus pandemic.
The Vivos xPoint bunkers, which are built on a former US Army base near the Black Hills area of South Dakota, come fully equipped with swimming pools, tennis courts, exercise spaces, pre-stocked gourmet food, TV and internet access.
The steel and concrete bunkers lay on a complex of 575 underground hideaways originally built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1942 as a military fortress that stored explosives and munitions.
The bunker site, which was named the Black Hills Ordnance Depot by the US Army, also held Italian prisoners of war during the Second World War.
The unassuming facade of one of the world’s most exclusive underground bunkers is pictured near the Black Hills of South Dakota. The 575-bunker complex can house 5,000 people through any catastrophic event, the doomsday project’s builder claims
Pictured: The dining and seating area of the Vivos xPoint bunker, located near the Black Hills of South Dakota, which comes pre-stocked with gourmet food, TV and internet access
Pictured: The dining area of a Vivos xPoint bunker, located near the Black Hills of South Dakota. The 80 ft x 26.5 ft bunkers are said to be able to accommodate up to 24 people with enough food, water, fuel, and hygienic supplies for a year
The company, founded by property mogul Robert Vicino, claims that interest for the bunkers has soared thanks to the coronavirus crisis – with sales up by 400 per cent on last year.
The company said: ‘People [are] no longer inquiring on a curiosity point of view, but now ready to get off the proverbial fence and secure a space will they still can.
‘This is compounded by the onslaught of threats that are now very evident to the entire world.’
The 575-bunker complex is built on a former US Army base in South Dakota and each is built from concrete and steel
An artist image shows the inside of a Vivos xPoint bunker in South Dakota. The doomsday bunkers, which requires a $25,000 deposit and $1,000 a year, are equipped with a swimming pool, tennis courts, exercise spaces and a snooker table
Pictured: The well-equipped kitchen of the Vivos xPoint bunker near the Black Hills area of South Dakota. Interest in the bunkers has soared amid the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic
The company also sells bunkers in Germany and Indiana and is planning developments in Marbella, Spain and Asia.
On this one complex in South Dakota, 5,000 people could survive virtually any catastrophic event and the aftermath, the company claims.
The 80ft x 26.5ft bunkers are said to be able to accommodate up to 24 people with enough food, water, fuel, and hygienic supplies for a year.
Pictured: An image of the bedroom in the Vivos xPoint bunker in South Dakota. The creators of the bunkers said that interest has increased 400 per cent since the outbreak of the coronavirus and that the ‘onslaught’ of global threats is pushing people to secure a space
Pictured: An external view of the 575-bunker complex near the Black Hills of South Dakota. The company also sells bunkers in Germany and Indiana and is planning developments in Marbella, Spain and Asia
Pictured: A man stands near the entrance to one of the Vivos xPoint bunkers near the Black Hills of South Dakota
Pictured: An aerial view of the Vivos xPoint bunker near the Black Hills of South Dakota, where a 99-year lease on a bunker costs $1,000 a year plus a $25,000 up-front deposit
However, the rent on the buried abodes doesn’t come cheap and a 99-year lease demands a $25,000 deposit up-front plus $1,000 each year.
A spokesperson for Vivos said: ‘Vivos is an epic humanitarian survival project, fully prepared for whatever and whenever events may unfold.
‘Our clients are not ‘afraid’, but rather aware and well informed about what is now going on around the world and the myriad of threats we all face.
Pictured: A man closes the door on a former US Army munitions bunker, which were transformed into 575 concrete doomsday bunkers in 2018
There has reportedly been a surge of interest in the construction and hire of underground doomsday bunkers designed to withstand ‘virtually any catastrophe’ (Pictured: Bunkers in South Dakota)
‘Vivos is the Plan B backup plan for their life-assurance if and when all hell breaks loose.
‘As we have stated for years, everyone will be a believer, when it is too late to secure a real life-assurance solution.’
Since the outbreak of the virus, the super-rich have splashed their cash on disaster bunkers, private jets and private doctors as they shied away from public life to self-isolate and hunker down during the crisis.
Wealthy people fled to overseas homes or hid in underground bunkers in countries which had so-far avoided significant outbreaks of the virus.