Assailing their critics, backers of the Bradley Square project in Oak Bluffs announced abruptly this week that they were putting the property up for sale.

Patrick Manning, executive director of the Island Affordable Housing Fund, sent an e-mail to fellow project backers Tuesday morning stating that continued opposition to the project coupled with the possibility of legal appeals led to the decision.

“It is sad that a few people have worked feverishly to ‘swiftboat’, or smear this project in order to advance their own agendas,” Mr. Manning wrote. “What we have to remember is that there are other towns that are counting on us, other projects that have approvals and are waiting for our financial assistance, and again, other families on our Island that are counting on us to make something happen.”

In a separate statement released yesterday afternoon Philippe Jordi, executive director of the Island Affordable Housing Trust, a sister organization to the fund, echoed the sentiment.

“After a 12-month public planning and permit review process the historic Bradley Square pºroject is faced with threats from a public campaign aimed at spreading fear through intimidation and harassment that has and may continue to undermine the financial viability of this nonprofit development,” he wrote.

The decision was made by the Island Affordable Housing Fund, Island Housing Trust and Vineyard chapter of Habitat for Humanity. The announcement comes near the end of the application process for the project, which aims to develop the site of the first African American church on the Vineyard into 11 apartments, some of them affordable, plus work space for artists and a community center and office space in the old Bradley Church. The site is on the corner of Masonic and Dukes County avenues.

In June the Martha’s Vineyard Commission voted 13-1 to approve the project, which is now in front of the Oak Bluffs zoning board of appeals. After it was flooded with public comment, earlier this month the board agreed to reopen its public hearing on the project on advice from town counsel.

The reopened hearing was last night.

Meanwhile, the announcement from the affordable housing groups sent a decidedly mixed message. The groups said that while on the one hand they plan to sell, on the other hand they want to see the permitting process completed.

“We understand that the Oak Bluffs ZBA will continue deliberating. But as I said earlier, we cannot just hope that the end is soon or [hope that] delays won’t continue. Always remember that Bradley Square is something that all of us can be proud we were part of,” Mr. Manning wrote in his e-mail.

“The fund and the trust do not want to sell the property but our organizations are committed to fulfilling our missions and fiduciary responsibilities based on the reality of the situation,” Mr. Jordi wrote.

The Island Affordable Housing Fund paid $905,000 for the property in 2007. Mr. Jordi confirmed yesterday that the fund has now put the property on the market at an asking price of $1.5 million. He said there is no listing broker; the fund intends to act as an owner broker.

He said about $200,000 was raised in private contributions that went toward the purchase of the property, while the remainder was financed with a $700,000 loan from the Martha’s Vineyard Savings Bank.

He admitted that the group paid top dollar for the property. “This was not a discounted sale,” Mr. Jordi said. He said additional costs have been incurred since then on design work and consultants, although he did not have an exact accounting of how much.

At the annual town meeting in April Oak Bluffs voters agreed to set aside $425,000 in Community Preservation Act funds for the affordable housing component of the project. Oak Bluffs selectman and board chairman Ronald DiOrio, who is also president of the Vineyard chapter of Habitat for Humanity, has been a leading advocate for the project.

A small band of artisans who own galleries in the neighborhood also strongly support Bradley Square.

The project’s critics include abutters and neighbors who say it is too big for the proposed site and worry about traffic and parking in the already congested neighborhood.

The two sides have been at odds during several highly emotional public meetings over the last 18 months both in front of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission and zoning board of appeals. In recent weeks, a citizens committee was created to oppose the Bradley Square proposal. The group is called the Oak Bluffs Concerned Citizens Committee.

In his e-mail Mr. Manning took sharp aim at the critics.

“To continue in this atmosphere would be against our mission and wrong to those who are patiently waiting for an affordable home of their own in other towns. Today we will put a For Sale by Owner sign on the property and begin to solicit offers in the event that proceeding to complete this project would not be a prudent, responsible use of our resources,” he wrote.

Contacted by telephone this week Don Lambert, who started the concerned citizens group, disputed any suggestion of a smear campaign.

“The people [opposed to this] are not against affordable housing or even spaces for artists; they have realistic concerns about their neighborhood. There are already problems with traffic and parking in that area, and here we are talking about 11 new homes, a functioning church, a community center and artists work spaces with almost no on-site parking, and little more than vague solutions and promises,” he said.

Mr. Lambert said he was surprised to learn the project backers had put the land up for sale.

“All we wanted was for the project to be downsized with on-site parking provided. As the design stands now, it simply does not fit in that neighborhood,” he said.

Mr. Jordi had another view. “If we are dealing with reasonable people who disagree with what we are doing, then we need to reconsider. But if those who disagree are unreasonable and don’t work in good faith then we have, and will, do what’s right,” he said.

John Early, a member of the Island Affordable Housing Fund board of directors and also the general contractor for the project, said he was disappointed the project might have stalled out. Mr. Early said he already agreed to provide services at below market rates — but said he was less disappointed about lost time and resources then he was about the prospect of a worthy project going by the boards.

“I was really enthusiastic about this project. I thought it was well thought out and well designed. A lot of people have invested a lot of time, energy and emotion in this project, so it would be a great disappointment to see it all go for nothing,” he said.