Councillors have voted to stop the sale of the former Magdalene Laundry site on Sean McDermott Street.
Plans were put forward last year to sell the site to a Japanese hotel chain.
However, a decision to stop the proposed sale was made at tonight's Dublin City Council meeting.
Social Democrats Councillor Gary Gannon is welcoming the development, saying there was a lot of support for his motion.
He said: "It means that we maintain ownership over that particular site, and we can build a memorial and commemoration centre of real substance to honour women who were incarcerated and abused at that location.
"We get to own the site and not outsource it to a private company - I think that's vital for our city."
More than 10,000 people had signed a petition calling for the sale to be halted.
A report on the proposed sale found that any development must include a permanent memorial at the site.
However, it also claimed the redevelopment was a "powerful opportunity and really the chance of a lifetime for the Sean McDermott area".