After more than two years of construction, Chicagoans can now see what the residential tower built on the spot of the proposed Chicago Spire will look like — from the outside, at least — once completed.Exterior construction wrapped up late last month on the 72-story skyscraper at 400 N. Lake Sho re Drive, with the installation of the building's last piece of facade glass.That means what we now see of the 857-foot tall glass building is what we'll get. Crews are building out the interior and surrounding grounds. The cascading, waterfall-like windows are a defining feature of 400 N. Lake Shore Drive.Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times "Seeing that profile in the skyline is pretty remarkable," said Ann Thompson, executive vice president of architecture and design at Related Midwest, the company developing the site. "You're seeing a fully completed exterior."Still, it's worth making note of this milestone in the project's construction. Until the current project kicked off in 2024, the site was best known for the circular 75-foot deep crater left there when a previous plan to build a spiraling 2,000-foot tall building designed by architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava went belly up in 2008.The plan calls for a 60-story near-twin tower to be built 75 feet to the south. But construction on the second building won't begin until at least a year after the current tower is fully leased — and if real estate market forces are charitable."[That] gives us a lot of information to work on for the second tower, in terms of the demographics and how is the site functioning," Thompson said. "It allows us to use that information to inform the second building ... particularly the interiors of the second tower."The building that's there now is a slender glass building with a facade that steps back — almost cascades — as it rises.The skyscrapers and its planned companion sit on the west side of DuSable Lake Shore Drive near the mouth of the Ogden Slip, a former industrial harbor that runs parallel to the last lengths of the Chicago River.Current work on the 400 N. Lake Shore site includes installing trees, bushes and plantings on the north side of the property.A sculpture by a major artist — whom Thompson wouldn't name — is planned.And the finished Founders Way, an important extension of the Riverwalk that leads past 400 N. Lake Shore, runs below DuSable Lake Shore Drive and will ultimately connect to the yet-to-be constructed $15 million DuSable Park, Thompson said.Related Midwest is covering $10 million of the park's $15 million cost. A rendering of the Related Midwest’s two towers at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive. Exterior work on the north tower is complete.Provided by Related Midwest What do I think of the building?I'm holding off until it's completed sometime in 2027. But I will say, the building has an overall power and elegance that could be diminished if the second tower isn't built.And I have to say this, though: SOM claims the waterfall-like windows are a modern interpretation of the classic Chicago bay window. But as a person who grew up in a house with a two-story bay window, I struggle to see the visual connection.That's not a knock against 400 N. Lake Shore's windows. They are among the building's better features.And it's no Chicago Spire — nor does it have to be, said Chicago Architecture Center CEO Eleanor Gorski, an architect and former high-ranking city planning official."You see [buildings like this] being pursued all in the Middle East and Far East," she said. "But I almost feel like Chicago has outgrown having to do that. I think that we take advantage of whatever scale we have and look for the best architectural outcomes."Gorski added, "Frankly from an urban design standpoint, I think it maybe it would have been a little gruesome to have this gigantic tower there." ...read more read less