Developers are looking to convert the former Clark Memorial United Methodist Church on Pleasant Avenue in Portland into affordable housing for the Shalom House, a nonprofit that helps people with severe mental illness.

The developer, Hardypond Development Co., declined to be interviewed before the project was presented to the Planning Board, and a representative of the Shalom House said it was too early in the process.

But according to an application filed in the city’s planning office, the roughly $2 million redevelopment plan would add 25 units of affordable housing to the former church and create a single-family home at 3 Pleasant Ave., which is located at the corner of Forest Avenue near Woodfords Corner.

“The proposed project is a unique opportunity to transform a vacant landmark property into a dynamic new moderate density residential development within an established neighborhood,” developers said in their application filed last month.

As of Friday, the city had not announced when the proposal would be presented to the Planning Board.

The church and adjacent community center were listed for sale in November with an asking price of $600,000, after it became financially infeasible to operate as a church. A real estate agent told the Portland Press Herald in April, after the property went under contract to be sold, that over the years the congregation had dwindled from 200 members to 50, with regular attendance for Sunday services dropping to 25 people.

Clark Memorial began as a small chapel. It was completed in 1857 and was originally known as Methodist Episcopal Church in what was then the village of Woodford. One of the church’s members, a prominent Woodford physician named Dr. Eliphalet Clark, co-funded the construction of a major addition that made the church what it is today.

The addition was completed in 1882, a year before Clark’s death, and the church ultimately was renamed in his honor.

Now, developers are looking to give the former place of worship new life.

Developers plan to create 25 units of affordable housing in the former church. They’re seeking permission to build 16 efficiency apartments and nine one-bedroom units, in addition to adding a laundry room and a community meeting space.

Developers say there will be few changes to the exterior of the building and that the project will show “sensitivity to the historic character of the structure.” They are planning, however, to demolish a breezeway that connects the church to an adjacent building and add an enclosed garden/patio area.

Developers were hoping to begin construction this fall with the goal of having it ready for its first tenants next fall.

“The project will not result in a significant increase in traffic,” said developers, who note its proximity to public transportation.

As congregations dwindle both locally and nationally, churches are being reborn as restaurants, arts centers, housing and offices.

The former Chestnut Street Church in Portland has been converted into a high-end restaurant, St. Dominic Church on Gray Street is now the home of the Maine Irish American Heritage Center, and the former Williston-West Church in the West End has been rezoned to allow housing and a small office space for a software development firm. A small church on Lafayette Street on Munjoy Hill has been demolished to make way for the Marquis Lofts condominium complex.

Founded in 1972 as a 15-bed halfway house for people with mental illness, the Shalom House provides an array of community-based services and affordable housing opportunities to people with severe mental illness. The nonprofit claimed $15.8 million in assets on its 2013 tax filing.

The group’s website lists about 20 transitional, supported and transitional housing options in York and Cumberland counties, including more than a dozen in Portland.

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