BT tunnels under central London up for sale

[Kushty]

BT tunnels under central London up for sale


BT has put a 100ft complex of tunnels beneath High Holborn on to the property market and Simon Woodroff, the man behind YO! Sushi and budget hotel group Yotel, may snap up the underground space.
Over 150 telephone engineers worked there until the 1990s, with amenities including a snooker hall, canteen, bar and tropical fish tank, but the complex is now surplus to requirements.



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/n...-for-sale.html

(7 Photos available)

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BT has put a 100ft complex of tunnels beneath High Holborn on to the property market and Simon Woodroff, the man behind YO! Sushi and budget hotel group Yotel, may snap up the underground space.
Over 150 telephone engineers worked there until the 1990s, with amenities including a snooker hall, canteen, bar and tropical fish tank, but the complex is now surplus to requirements.

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Mr Woodroff said he wants to turn the tunnels into a hotel for city workers and weekend clubbers with up to 200 rooms.

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The complex was initially built as an air raid shelter during World War II, and after the war was used by the Government as a secure ‘reserve war room’ and by the Public Reserve Office to store 400 tons of highly sensitive documents.

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The tunnels are about a mile along and were designed to provide air raid accommodation for approximately 8,000 people. They were equipped with full water, electricity and services – all 100 feet below the ground.

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From 1946, the tunnels were a ‘trunk exchange’ – connecting long distance strategic calls – including the hotline between the US and Russian presidents.

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In the 1980s, the tunnels were home to BT’s London Area Group which serviced closed circuit television and also housed secure data back-up services.

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Elaine Hewitt, group property director for BT, said, “We are looking for a purchaser with the imagination and stature to return the tunnels to productive use. The site has the most fantastic history and, now that we have no requirement for it for telecommunications use, it is right that we should offer it to the market. Here’s hoping it has a fantastic future as well.”
But she said fire and safety restrictions mean that the chance of the complex becoming a hotel is remote.



Fu(king hell, putting that article in took longer than I thought. Phew.