Naval-gazing for the super-wealthy

Looking for an underground lair to plot your plans for world domination?

If so, cancel the search, because a formerly secret submarine base in Norway has just hit the open market.

Nato reportedly spent US$494 million (Dh1.81 billion) building the 15,000-square-metre Olavsvern Naval Base in 1967 - but today it can be yours for just $17.3m.

The base, in Tromsø, north of the Arctic Circle, served as Nato's headquarters for US forces in the region during the Cold War, according to Yahoo Real Estate. Built underneath a mountain and designed to withstand a nuclear attack, the facility remained operational until 2002, when it was made into a supply depot.

Talks about the sale of the base had been going on since 2009, when the Norwegian government decided it no longer needed it, reported The Foreigner, an English-language Norwegian news website. "Nato has said that there are no ties between Olavsvern and the military any more. The base can thus be deleted from Nato's records, and means it can now be sold on the open market," Trond Eliassen, the regional manager of Skifte Eiendom, which is the property management company for the Norwegian armed forces, told the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.

No submarines are included in the sale, although the space could function as a very generous swimming pool or even a berth for a luxury yacht. The property includes 13,500 sq metres of above-surface buildings and a 2,500-sq-metre quay.

Other facilities include an office, garages, fuel systems, a tunnel system, which presumably could be converted into a livable space, as well as storage.

There is, however, one significant downside: the annual electricity bills run into the millions, according to The Foreigner.

gduncan@thenational.ae