In the Heart of Milwaukee, a Gleaming Tower Leads an Urban Renewal

MILWAUKEE — The skyline of this Great Lakes city is getting a makeover, led by a tower that unfurls like a magnificent curved glass sail on the Lake Michigan shoreline.

Northwestern Mutual’s striking $450 million, 32-story glass-and-steel office tower, which opened in August, is helping to reshape the city. It will be followed by the Milwaukee Bucks’ $524 million arena, financed with $250 million in taxpayer funds, which is set to open next year.

The two buildings will serve as bookends for more than 100 big real estate projects just opened or under construction in Milwaukee’s surging city center...