The former cinema and concert hall at The Tyrls in Bradford city centre has been sold to Bradford Council for £1, as bids are invited for developers.
The Homes and Communities Agency has provided £3.5m funding to prepare the cinema site and the neighbouring former police station site for construction.
A shortlist of schemes will be selected next year, with a final decision made in the summer.
Council leader David Green said: “We can now push forward with plans for the regeneration and transformation of the city centre.
“Acquiring the former Odeon means that we can now examine commercially viable ideas to save the building which many have fought to keep over the last decade while it has stood empty. It has always been our policy to find a sustainable future for the Odeon.”
The building has been empty since 2000, and the HCA terminated a development agreement with Langtree Artisan last September over an s106 disagreement.
The property has been bought for £1 due to the need for substantial sums of money to be spent to maintain it in its present condition.
chris.berkin@estatesgazette.com
