The co-founders of Worcester’s Hanover Theater have an agreement to provide Boston’s Improv Asylum sketch comedy troupe with a permanent home in the region’s second largest city.

The Asylum has signed a letter of intent with Edward Madaus and Paul Demoga to rent space in their building at 551 Main St. once it is renovated and open for business, according to the owners.

The improvisational acting company will rent 7,300 square feet of the property, occupying the basement level of the vacant building immediately adjacent to the Hanover Theater. The Asylum’s space will accommodate an audience of about 350.

But they’re not the only theater troupe that will be housed in the building. Several former actors and stage hands from the defunct and beloved Foothills Theater company, which disbanded in 2009 due to lack of funding, will set up shop on the second floor as a new theater group, Madaus said. He said they will likely perform about eight plays each year, with about 16 showings apiece. But to start, they are planning a mini-series from March through May of about three plays.

The move is wishful thinking for now, since the property is still a vacant shell. But, if all goes to plan, renovations will begin before the end of the year and the building could open as early as December or January. Demoga admitted to Banker & Tradesman that the timeline is a "very aggressive."

The duo is also in talks with a restaurateur to bring a high-end restaurant to the first floor of the property, which they purchased in 2008 for about $1.2 million. They have already put about $700,000 into the property and estimate the total build-out for the theater spaces and restaurant at about $1.8 million.

The second floor, where the former Foothills players perform in a theater seating about 250, will also serve as a function space for the adjacent Hanover Theater. The two buildings are separated by just a party wall, so the owners plan to knock it down and open it to the Hanover for pre-performance parties and other uses.