City officials have paved the way for yet another business to move into Dowagiac’s downtown office complex.

The Dowagiac City Council approved the terms of a five-year lease with Mishawaka-based law firm May, Oberbell, Lorber on Monday for around 800 square feet of office space inside the James E. Snow Professional Building, located across the street from city hall downtown. The charge for the space will be at $14.25 per square foot.

The city has been working with the area law firm for the last several months, with the latter seeking a suitable facility to support an office in Dowagiac, according to city manager Kevin Anderson.

The two came to an agreement with the business terms of the contract last Friday, he said.

Another condition of the agreement is that the city will finish the lease space for the offices, which will be covered through the cost of the lease, Anderson said.

“That will get us sufficient revenues to build that out at the same level of finish that you see in the rest of the building,” Anderson said. “If they want upgrades in the level of finish then that’s something that the tenant would be responsible for.”

Other conditions of the lease are that the tenant must make monthly rent payments, and that they will be responsible for paying for their utilities costs.

The law firm is the second area business that will be moving into the building’s first floor since the complex opened last fall. In May, the city approved a lease with St. Joseph’s Advanced Dermatology for 1,830 square feet of space on the south end of the building; construction on the space is continuing to progress, according to a recent report by the city manager.

The complex also houses the Van Buren/Cass District Health Department dental clinic, which takes up the entirety of the second floor.

With a second tenant moving into the lower level, the once vacant space is starting to fill up, Anderson said.

“It will leave one large area of about 2,000 square feet that will remain for lease,” he said. “We’re actually well on our way with another potential client for that one as well.”

Though business terms of the deal are complete, the last of the language details are being finalized with the city attorney, Anderson said. The resolution passed by  council Monday authorizes the city manager to execute the finalized lease.

“Overall, I think it can be a nice addition, not only for the building, but for that legal presence in the community should be a good thing to have as well,” Anderson said.