Drive north on Pontiac Trail past the M-5 intersection this month and you will pass two versions of the same project in the space of about a quarter mile. To the west, residents are grilling on private patios at Springs at Five & Main, walking dogs at the community's leash-free dog park, and swimming in a finished pool. To the east, across Martin Parkway, there is still orange construction fencing, dirt piles, and no posted date on a sign anywhere telling you when that half opens.
Both halves carry the same address. Only one of them is finished.
That gap is the actual story of Five & Main right now, not the marketing language about a future downtown. The apartments got built first and are already lived in. The retail, dining, and entertainment piece that was supposed to give Commerce Township something residents have asked for since at least 2002, a walkable center of its own, is still under construction. And according to the township's own planning department, there is now a specific building that will tell you whether this is finally the year that changes.
The Apartments Got Here First
Springs at Five & Main is the part of this project that stopped being a rendering. Continental Properties, a Wisconsin-based multifamily developer with more than 129 apartment communities across 19 states, broke ground on the 284-unit community in 2024, began pre-leasing in spring 2025, and had residents moved in by that summer, according to the company's own announcement. Units run studio through three bedroom, several with attached garages and ground-level entries, and the community amenities, a resort-style pool, a 24-hour fitness center, an on-site pet spa, are already operating.
That is roughly a year and a half ahead of the commercial side, where infrastructure work on entrances, roads, water, sewer, and electric only started in 2024 and full construction on the retail buildings didn't begin until the following spring, per Crain's Detroit Business. If you live near the site and have been wondering why one corner feels finished while the other still looks like a job site, that timeline gap is the answer.
What Building G Actually Unlocks
The township's Planning Department tracks Five & Main's progress building by building, and its March 2026 monthly report to the Board of Trustees names the one that matters most right now: Building G. The developer, Robert B. Aikens & Associates, told the Planning Department it intends to have Building G complete and occupiable by the end of 2026.
Building G isn't just another retail box. Its construction is tied to extending Main Street, the east-to-west spine road that will connect the development to Martin Parkway. That road is what turns a cluster of buildings into an actual walkable grid, the difference between a shopping plaza you drive to and a downtown you can park once and walk through. The same March report notes the developer submitted a Tenant Handbook, design guidelines that future buildings within Five & Main will have to follow, for the Planning Commission's review that month. No specific restaurant or retail tenant names have shown up in public township filings as of this writing, so anyone telling you which stores are confirmed for opening day is speculating.
How the Math Has Changed Since 2018
Long-time residents who remember the original pitch for Five & Main might notice the numbers have moved since then, and the shift is worth sitting with.
| Year | Milestone | Reported first-phase footprint |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Township approves the planned unit development | 350,000 square feet |
| 2024 | Infrastructure groundbreaking begins | Roughly 275,000 square feet |
| 2026 | Building G targeted for completion | Single building, footprint not separately reported |
The 2018 Crain's coverage of the original approval described a first phase with more than 78,000 square feet of entertainment space, 82,000 square feet of restaurants, and active lease talks with a movie theater and a gourmet market as anchor tenants. None of that language shows up in the more recent reporting. By the time construction actually started, the project was being described in the roughly 275,000-square-foot range for the same first phase. That is not necessarily a bad sign. Projects of this size routinely get right-sized between approval and groundbreaking. But it does mean residents shouldn't expect the full 2018 vision to appear all at once when Building G opens. What arrives this year is one building, not the whole downtown.
The Rest of the Neighborhood Already Delivered
It helps to remember that Five & Main sits inside a larger, decades-long plan called Commerce Towne Place, and several pieces of that plan finished long before this one did. First & Main, a senior living community just north of the current site, opened back in 2017. The Barrington Apartments, a separate 300-unit community at the northwest corner of Pontiac Trail and Martin Parkway, and The Avalon senior facility both followed. Thirty-seven single-family homes at Wyncliff filled in nearby as well, according to Hour Detroit's reporting on the broader project.
So the pattern here isn't a single grand opening. It's a rolling, uneven build-out where residential pieces have consistently arrived faster than the commercial anchor everyone actually wants. That pattern is useful context for reading what Building G's completion will and won't mean.
A Dealership Is Betting on the Same Corner
Five & Main isn't the only business investment happening at this intersection. LaFontaine Automotive Group is adding Hyundai and Genesis dealerships at the northwest corner of Pontiac Trail and Martin Parkway, according to DBusiness Magazine. That's an independent commercial bet on traffic and growth along this stretch of road, made by a company with no direct stake in whether Five & Main's retail phase hits its target date. It's a signal worth noting alongside the township's own construction timeline.
What to Actually Watch For This Fall
If you live in Commerce Township and want to know when this actually changes your daily routine, here's the honest answer: watch for Building G's completion and the Main Street connection to Martin Parkway, both targeted for the end of 2026. That's the marker that will make the difference between driving past construction fencing and being able to walk from a parking spot to a storefront.
Don't expect a single ribbon-cutting with a full slate of named restaurants and shops. Aikens' earlier project, The Village of Rochester Hills, became what locals now treat as a de facto downtown for both Rochester Hills and northern Troy, but it got there gradually, building by building, not in one opening weekend. Five & Main looks to be following the same pattern. The residential half already proved that. The commercial half is just getting its first real deadline.
For residents near Commerce Township, that deadline is worth watching regardless of whether you're thinking about buying or selling anytime soon. Projects like this reshape traffic patterns, property values, and what's within walking distance of home, sometimes years before the official opening. If you're curious how a development like Five & Main might affect your own street or your home's position in the market, I'd be glad to talk through what I'm seeing on the ground. Robert Torrey has spent years reading how construction timelines in Oakland County actually play out versus how they're announced. Let's Connect.
