LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Humana plans to list its iconic, 27-story headquarters at 500 W. Main St. in downtown Louisville for sale.
In February 2024, the state's only Fortune 500 company announced it would vacate the building in a cost-cutting move. Humana said at the time it no longer needed the building as it embraced hybrid and remote work amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result, Humana has been working over the past year to consolidate its Louisville headquarters to its Waterside-Clocktower campus on the east side of downtown.
The connected Waterside and Clocktower buildings, which Humana said were recently renovated, have about 40% more square footage than the tower at Fifth and Main streets, which was the main consideration in where to consolidate, a company spokesman said.
The Waterside-Clocktower campus has 3,725 workspaces, according to the Humana FAQ given to employees last year.
"The Waterside and Clocktower buildings offer our employees modern facilities and amenities that are well-suited to their workstyles," the company said in a statement Wednesday.
In early 2024, a spokesperson for the company said about 2,500 of its estimated 10,000 Louisville area employees were in office on a typical workday. Their presence was divided evenly between the Main Street headquarters and the Waterside-Clocktower building.
When announcing it would vacate the West Main Street building, Humana said it would have no impact on Louisville-based employment, which in February 2024 totaled about 10,000 people and remained the largest geographic concentration of the company's 65,000 employees.
In a news release Wednesday, Humana said it has also been working with Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg, community officials and city agencies to look at possible uses for the building in the future.
"As a next step in this process, Humana Tower and adjacent properties on the 500 block of West Main Street will be placed on the real estate market in the coming weeks," the company said. "We are hopeful that a suitable new owner will be found so that the property can continue to be an asset to downtown Louisville."
Humana promises it will "remain a strong anchor" for the downtown business community and continue to provide "a positive economic impact for the city."
Humana ranks No. 42 on the Fortune 500 and brings in about $100 billion in revenue annually.
The pink granite tower at 500 West Main Street designed by the late, renowned architect Michael Graves, has been a symbol of Humana's homegrown roots since it was built about 40 years ago under the direction of the late Humana co-founder David A. Jones, a lifelong resident and champion of the city.
In November 2024, the city unveiled a "Hometown Heroes" banner of Jones photographed in front of the gleaming tower in the 1980s.
Months before, in April 2024, a bronze statue sculpted by Louisville's own Ed Hamilton was unveiled in the green space in front of Humana's Waterside-Clocktower campus.
Humana for decades has been the largest office tenant in downtown Louisville, but it's vacated 800,000 square feet of leased office space in the Central Business District, commercial agents have estimated. In 2022, it donated an entire office building the University of Louisville.
This story may be updated.
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