Local developer Activa to develop the property with 234 one- and two-bedroom units and two floors of underground parking.

More than half of the trees on an empty lot on Margaret Avenue will be cut down, to make way for a six-storey high-end condo building.

The long-vacant site had 92 trees growing on it, including copper beech, cherry, horse chestnut and maples, some of which have trunks 90 to 100 centimetres in diameter.

The three-acre parcel has been cleared since 1988, when a previous owner tore down six stately homes on the street. Since then, the area near Centre in the Square has served as the neighbourhood’s informal dog-walking park.

Local developer Activa to develop the property with 234 one- and two-bedroom units and two floors of underground parking.

The project will require 54 of the trees to be cut down. About 28 of the trees have already been removed because they were dead or in poor shape.

The plan originally called for 67 trees to come down, but after consulting with the community, Activa changed the design to preserve more trees along the property lines, to better screen the new development from existing homes, said Pierre Chauvin, Activa’s planner on the project.

“We have kept generous setbacks, which will allow us to retain a lot more trees,” Chauvin said.

The developer also plans to plant trees as part of its landscaping for the site, including 29 trees along Margaret Avenue, and a variety of trees and shrubs in landscaped terraces along the front of the property. The tree-lined boulevard along Margaret would echo the treed stretches of nearby Queen and Ellen streets.

The developer hopes to begin construction next year. Zoning is already in place to allow a development of this size and type.

The city’s heritage committee has recommended approval of the project, and the city’s committee of adjustment will consider a request for three minor variances on Aug. 20. The variances include slightly higher density and less parking than required, including a request to provide only 16 visitor spaces instead of 59 as required. The lower rate of visitor parking is in line with other similar developments, Chauvin said, noting that the project is on a bus route and close to the LRT.