After years of staring at a vacant hole in the ground, Chicago is finally watching the old Spire site shoot into the sky. Crews at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive have the 66th floor of the north tower staged for a concrete pour, putting the building just a few stories shy of its full height. The 72-story, roughly 858-foot tower is set to bring hundreds of new homes and fresh waterfront open space to the spot where the Chicago River meets Lake Michigan. Developer Related Midwest and its construction team are targeting an early 2027 opening for both the tower and the neighboring DuSable Park.
Fresh photos from Friday show crews working on the 49th floor, with curtain wall installed through around the 47th level. Chicago YIMBY reports that the 66th floor slab is queued up for concrete and that a final crane jump, adding five sections, is slated for the coming weekend. According to the outlet, a planned crane lift in November was pushed back by heavy winds, and crews wrapped that work after Thanksgiving. The latest images track the tower’s rise from vantage points at Adler Planetarium, along the riverwalk and into Streeterville.
Units, height, and public commitments
In a press release, Related Midwest states that the north tower is planned to include 635 dwelling units, with 127 of those, or 20 percent, reserved as affordable. The project will share roughly 300 underground parking spaces and includes a pledge of $10 million toward DuSable Park. The developer describes the first phase as delivering about 4.5 acres of publicly accessible open space. Related projects that move ins at the tower and public access to the park will begin around early 2027.
Contractors and schedule
LR Contracting and BOWA Construction are leading work on the site, and city permits for caissons and the underground substructure have helped keep the above grade work humming along. As reported by Urbanize Chicago, the team locked in construction financing that has supported a steady pace of slab pours through the winter months. Together, the foundations and financing are driving a rapid schedule that has crews forming floors in near continuous fashion.
DuSable Park moves ahead
The long awaited DuSable Park, a roughly 3.3–3.5 acre waterfront green space east of Lake Shore Drive, cleared the Chicago Plan Commission last fall and is expected to start construction in the spring, with an opening projected in 2027. As Chicago YIMBY notes, the design by Ross Barney and Brook Architecture calls for boardwalks, wetlands and a small pavilion honoring Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Paired with a plaza and an extension of the riverwalk, the plan is set to carve out new publicly accessible edges along both the river and the lake.
What to watch next
With the 66th floor teed up and the last crane jump on deck, topping out is expected to follow in short order, shifting attention to facade and interior buildout. “We are proud to begin construction at 400 Lake Shore and deliver Chicago a new, transformative project to be enjoyed for generations to come,” Related Midwest president Curt Bailey said in the company’s announcement. Expect construction activity to stay heavy along DuSable Lake Shore Drive as the development pushes toward its 2027 goal line.
