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.

An expanse of wide, windy, forlorn avenues not long ago, downtown Milwaukee has gained new life. The proprietors of restaurants and stores in the business district between the Milwaukee River and the lakefront say foot traffic is noticeably increasing.