The doctors and staff of downtown’s dental clinic may soon be greeting some new neighbors.

The Dowagiac City Council approved the preliminary conditions of a six-year lease with Advanced Dermatology, based out of St. Joseph, for office space in the first floor of the James E. Snow Professional Building Monday. According to the terms, the city will rent 1,830 square feet of space on the south-end of the building, located at the corner of Front and Main streets downtown, to the area skin-care practice for a total of $210,00, spread out over monthly payments throughout the life of the agreement; the new tenets will also be responsible for paying utility costs for the space.

Advanced Dermatology will be the second tenet of the professional building, which opened last fall, joining the Van Buren/Cass District Health Department dental clinic that occupies the building’s second floor. The practice has discussed renting out space inside the currently vacant ground level of the city-owned structure since January, with a preliminary deal being struck late last week, said City Manager Kevin Anderson.

“We wanted to have a stronger presence in the Dowagiac area, so we’re excited to move forward with this new office,” said Elyse Kuriata, business manager with Advanced Dermatology.

The clinic plans to use around a third of the available space on the floor, with designs calling for three examination rooms, a reception area, employee commons area and other office space, Kuriata said.

Founded in 1999 by Dowagiac native Dr. Mark Kuriata, physicians with Advanced Dermatology provide medical, surgical and cosmetic skin care to patients across southwest Michigan. In addition to their main office in St. Joseph, the practice operates several satellite locations across the area, including in Niles and South Haven. The dermatology office has maintained a presence in Dowagiac as well, with specialists holding office hours twice a month from a location inside Borgess-Lee Memorial Hospital.

With a new, more visible location downtown and additional operating space, the practice plans to open three days a week once the new offices open. Patients will receive care from a rotating set of specialists, who will include Dr. Kuriata and the recently hired Dr. David Grekin, the business manager said.

“Having that space will be nice for us to expand more into the community as well,” Kuriata said.

The deal also provides the option for Advanced Dermatology to sublet the offices to another medical provider on days when its staff isn’t using them.

Construction on the new facilities are expected to begin soon after deal is finalized, which could happen by as soon week’s end, the city manager said. Once started, the project is expected to take 90 days to complete, with the clinic expected to open soon afterwards.

“We’re excited to have them,” Anderson said. “One of our hopes is that not only with the health department upstairs but now with the clinic downstairs we can bring additional medical services into the county.”