A bid for £7m capital funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund will be submitted in March.

And it is hope tenders will be invited in the summer for the huge refurbishment project.

Piece Hall is an important part of Halifax’s history and was built to house prosperous cloth traders some 230 years ago.

The Georgian building is one of only two surviving cloth halls in the whole of Europe and has had a variety of uses over 230 years.

The complex renovation project involves punching a new ‘fourth’ entrance through the exterior wall of the historic 18th century building and transforming the huge courtyard at its heart into a bustling town square.

The upper level of the landmark building boasts more than 300 rooms behind arcades and columns that will be turned into business units. The buildings middle floor has been earmarked for high quality retail use.