Right, so, walking past just now, I caught a bloke having a fag outside the Odeon and grilled him lightly about the progress. This resulted in him saying "Just go and have a look through the door".
So, I did, and was then offered a "No photographs" tour. (They have had grief about pictures of minor details that have been posted online, apparently).
They are retaining and replicating as much of the essential character of the building as is possible. There will be apartments upstairs, of various sizes.
I feel much more confident that this is a real attempt this time, they seem very competent people.
I did ask about timescale and was told that it would be nice to be open for Christmas...