The Kingsbridge Armory towers over the northwest Bronx, a massive empty shell that has long defied redevelopment efforts and haunted generations of city leaders.

Now, this enduring symbol of the Bronx’s stalled ambitions has once again become the focus of a campaign to bring much-needed jobs and economic revival to the borough. Standing inside the armory’s frosty interior on Tuesday morning, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Bronx officials announced that they had reached an agreement with a developer to transform the city-owned building into what they called the world’s largest indoor ice sports center.

The agreement, which still requires the approval of the City Council, calls for the Kingsbridge National Ice Center to open inside the existing armory building in 2018. The 750,000-square-foot center would eventually house nine regulation-size ice rinks for skating and hockey — including a 5,000-seat arena. (The developer said the current largest ice sports center was in Minnesota.)

The center is expected to create 267 permanent jobs and 890 temporary construction jobs, according to city officials.