The land transfer is one of the final red-tape hurdles before construction can begin on the centre, which already has planning permission.
The new arts centre would provide a permanent home for the Saltaire Collection, which is made up of more than 7,000 artefacts and stories chronicling the history of Saltaire village, which are currently stored at the college.
The building would include classrooms, exhibition and event spaces and new public toilets.
Residents had raised concerns about the loss of one of Saltaire’s busiest car parks, pressure on the tightly constrained village streets, the size and appearance of the development, and the potential erosion of Saltaire’s protected character.
Presenting a report to Bradford Council decision makers, Liz Kemp, the council’s head of property and estates, acknowledged the strength of feeling but said most responses challenged the project itself rather than the mechanics of the transfer.
“The majority of the objections… related to the end use and the development of the scheme rather than the transactional element of the transfer,” she told a meeting of the executive on Tuesday.
Kemp said the land would be transferred at “nil value”, effectively handing it over for free, reflecting the public-benefit purpose of the project.
A report presented to officials ahead of the meeting at Bradford’s City Hall said the new development “will increase visitor time in Saltaire, provide an event space with public toilets and enhance the residents’ interaction with their heritage”.
It was “seen as a positive step that will bring vibrancy and expansion to the Saltaire village”, the report added, stressing the council had “addressed the objections raised”.