Walking distance to Churchill Downs, the LongTail Building is located at 2532 S 4th St, Louisville, KY 40208 in an opportunity zone blocks away from the University of Louisville surrounded by new student housing. The LongTail Building is a multi-use entrepreneurial event space reimagining the building’s history as the Whirlaway Tavern and nineteenth-century grocery store and bank. Triple Crown-winning horse Whirlaway was nicknamed Mr. Longtail. Named after Whirlaway, LongTail also represents part of a distribution curve, the “long tail” that drives technology adoption at scale and allows participating in decentralized economies.

Today the LongTail Building hosts offices for early-stage crypto-first investment funds, the 6ixth Event, and Narwhal Ventures. The LongTail Building hosts events for early-stage companies and investors from around the country. The space is available for events, artists, non-profits, and community functions.

The LongTail building holds offices for funds investing in early-stage companies. The LongTail Building hosts events and working sessions with startups and investors located around the country. The space showcases the region’s rich history and culture. Quintessential regional experience from a former bourbon haunt named after a Triple Crown-winning horse. Historic brick, block glass, and hand-cut timbers. Designed by an award-winning architect with hand-painted signs and details and spaces that feel like a Kentucky barn complete with hookups for food trucks for a jamboree. Primary importance was given to the outdoor spaces with over 50 trees planted and botanical gardens starting to grow, all designed to create a flow between the outside and inside of the location. The LongTail Building boasts modern technology such as super-fast internet access from fiber run on a Ruckus network, ultra-short-throw projection screens with next-gen teleconferencing from Meeting Owl, and a Helium-based IoT / LoRaWAN Network.

The building is a working experiment exploring ways to reimagine space in an urban environment. Event spaces that flex for different uses from the community while incorporating outdoor space. Workplace design for evolving needs around communal and distributed workforces including outdoor options. Urban landscapes positively impact the environment by disproportionately sequestering carbon through a high-density tree and plant design.

New businesses - across the long tail of the distribution curve - outside traditional venture models, exploring real-world problems and solutions with distributed technology. Focused on developing decentralized startup models for people starting businesses without raising venture capital. Designing paths for people without college degrees who are interested in entrepreneurship in order to do meaningful work with impact. Currently exploring NextGen Events, Distributed Workplace Design, and Carbon Positive Landscapes. Blue-collar crypto in action.

The LongTail Building restoration was a team effort in reimagining the use of indoor and outside spaces. The project was done by Studio Mayo architects (American Institute of Architects | 2018 KY Merit Award), Lichtefeld Construction, Sweet Carpentry of Kentuckiana (boutique carpenter), and Slugger City Signs (artist at Kentucky College of Art & Design) and Mighty Fine Signs (Ghost Sign specialist from Portland, OR). Historic signs on the building’s exterior were preserved and restored by hand, based on the University of Louisville’s archival photos, all commemorating the history of the city and space.