The city of Kirkland plans to turn a church owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints into a community center.

The church agreed to sell the property in Kirkland’s Kingsgate neighborhood to the city for $10 million — $2.7 million higher than the original asking price in March.

The sale, first reported by Puget Sound Business Journal, comes as the church is selling off properties across the Seattle area. The church listed at least six properties this year, but it plans on building its seventh Washington temple in Marysville.

The sales, in combination with overall declining religious service attendance statewide, have sparked questions around the potential of repurposing sprawling, old churches.

The Kirkland property attracted a flock of housing developers, outbidding the city’s initial offer matching the $7.3 million asking price for the 3.28-acre property at 13220 N.E. 132nd St., said Lynn Zwaagstra, director of Kirkland Parks and Community Services.

The church received several bids over $10 million but offered the property to the city for that price, Zwaagstra said.

A representative for the church declined to comment on the sale.

“The LDS church has a strong community focus,” Zwaagstra said. “We believe that led to them being willing to take a slightly lower price than other bids to be able to keep that service to the community.”

On the outside, the 15,600-square-foot property will still look like a church. The city doesn’t plan to make many renovations because the building is nearly perfectly suited for a community center, with gyms, small classrooms and large, open spaces. Portions of the property could also be considered for affordable housing, according to the city’s website.

The city has been looking for ways to add more community services to Kingsgate, one of Kirkland’s lower-income neighborhoods that has historically been underserved.

Although the city doesn’t have an opening date for the community center, it plans to make a large field on the property available to the public as soon as the purchase is complete.

“It is well-suited for the neighborhood youth to just come do free play on that area,” Zwaagstra said. “I know there is a lot of youth looking for that.”

The housing authority opened the Kirkland Heights affordable housing complex, which neighbors the church, at the end of May after spending years rehabilitating 180 existing units and adding 96 new units. Many children live in the units, and Zwaagstra hopes they’ll be able to play on the neighboring property’s field as soon as possible.

The new community center will help ease pressure on the city’s two other community centers for indoor recreation programs, including art, music, preschool and sports programs.

The sale comes after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints listed at least six of its Seattle-area churches for sale this year in South Seattle, Mercer Island, Bellevue, Redmond, Auburn and Kirkland.

A married pair of real estate investors who run a truck-stop business purchased the Redmond church for $5.05 million in July. The couple plan to convert the former church into a temple for devotees of Guruji Nirmal Singh Maharaj, a spiritual leader from North India, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal.

The other churches still have public listings, but all of them say the properties are under contract.

In April, an LDS spokesperson told The Seattle Times that LDS might add new churches to Washington in the future, but for now, the temple planned for Marysville is the only planned real estate purchase.

The location and construction timeline of the Marysville temple are yet unknown. No major real estate sales involving The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been recorded in Snohomish County property records so far this year.

The religious group’s temples look much different from its churches.

Temples are colossal structures with towering spires, reserved for sacred ceremonies such as marriage and proxy baptism. Churches are smaller, local gathering places for worship.

Washington has hundreds of LDS churches, but only six temples, which are in Richland, Moses Lake, Bellevue, Spokane, Federal Way and Vancouver.