The first phase of the project has 23 loft apartments on Woodward Avenue with 10,000 square feet of first-floor retail in a pair of rehabilitated buildings while the second phase is slated for 138 apartments with 9,000 square feet of retail. The second phase, construction on which began this week, is expected to cost $29 million, according to a news release.

Retail tenants in the $7.6 million first phase, construction on which began a year ago, are Woodpile BBQ Shack and an unnamed bakery.

The project began as a class project by three University of Michigan graduate students in professor and developer Peter Allen's class. Later, the three — Dang Duong, Myles Hamby and Clarke Lewis — were hired by The Platform, which has been developing mixed-use projects in and around the New Center area, as well as neighborhoods including Islandview and northwest Detroit, among others.

"Baltimore Station is a great project, but the story behind it is amazing," Peter Cummings, executive chairman of The Platform, said in the release. "To help take what had been a class project for these visionaries, to take their idea and make it a reality, it's just inspiring for not only the future of Detroit, but for the careers of these brilliant young men."

Leasing is taking place for the project's first phase, which was built by Eastepointe-based Monahan Co. and designed by Detroit-based architecture firm Archive DS.

Troy-based O'Brien Construction Co. is the contractor on the second phase, which was designed by Los Angeles-based Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects. Both companies have offices in Detroit.