The City of Montreal has approved the first phase of a scaled-backed redevelopment of Griffintown, meaning construction for the $475-million project in the southwest neighbourhood could begin as early as the end of the year.

The approval means many of the area's buildings will be razed to the ground to make way for several high-rise condo units, stores, offices and a hotel. The developer Devimco hopes to complete the project by 2015.

People living in the area were upset with the amount of commercial space, so Devimco added more residential units and green spaces, company spokesman André Bouthillier said.

"It will be more than 85 per cent housing. The rest will be commercial," he said.

Bouthillier said 30 per cent of the units will be social and affordable housing. Final details of the project won't be released to the public for another few months, but opponents are already sounding off on the plan.

Jeffrey Dungen, spokesman for the Committee for the Sustainable Redevelopment of Griffintown, said the towers will destroy the neighbourhood's spirit.

"It allows them to demolish pretty much every building in the entire area, except for one or two historic buildings, but there are many more. The heights are out of keeping with what the neighbourhood has ever seen," he said.

Dungen said he will keep working to get the plan modified further.