After some back-and-forth, a renovation project has been approved for three historic buildings in Mott Haven.

Norman Cundiff has lived in Mott Haven for nearly four decades on Alexander Avenue. He walks by a set of beautiful brownstones that help define the Mott Haven Historic District every day and says they've been abandoned for years now.

Developer Josh Dardashtian of Dash Real Estate Group Inc. intends to make big changes with 265, 297 and 299 Alexander Ave. Dardashtian says the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission approved his plans for exterior renovations to create eight units at market rate.

Samuel Brooks, president of the Mott Haven Historic District Association, says the project was approved only after NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission required changes to the sizes of proposed penthouses on top of roofs.

Proposals like this, he says, will soon go through a new committee in the Bronx.

Brooks says the Historic Districts Council Bronx Preservation Committee will be comprised of community stakeholders, as well as longtime and new residents.

Brooks says the first meeting for the Bronx Preservation Committee will be held next month. Dardashtian, the developer heading up to project on those three buildings, says in part that he has made "a commitment to the city's Landmarks Commission and Mott Haven neighbors to preserve the historic fabric of this block, while at the same time performing much-needed renovations on these beautiful buildings."