A New York-based real estate brokerage intends to acquire Boston’s Otis & Ahearn.

Douglas Elliman CEO Dottie Herman  and Chairman Howard Lorber announced the firm has entered into a letter of intent to acquire  Otis & Ahearn, with offices in Charlestown, Back Bay and the waterfront.

“Once closed, this acquisition will provide the strongest global real estate experience together under one organization and offer our new Boston agents more opportunities for exposure while expanding service areas and professional expertise for homebuyers and sellers throughout the greater Boston area,” the firm said in a statement.

Otis & Ahearn’s sole principal, Kevin J. Ahearn, will be named CEO of Douglas Elliman’s new Boston division.

“I started thinking about our next move a couple of years ago, to get to a bigger platform and stay involved,” Ahearn told Banker & Tradesman. “I talked to a lot of different people. At the top of the list was Douglas Ellison and Howard Lorber. At first it didn’t work, but then we came back and put the deal together.”

As national players increase their presence in the Boston market, Ahearn said he wanted to find a larger company with a corporate culture similar to Otis & Ahearn.

“It’s heating up in terms of what’s going on in this market,” Ahearn said. “There were a number of different times in the last 15 years that I’d gotten into serious discussions with someone about a merger, but I wasn’t interested in doing an outright sale. The big difference is Douglas Elliman is a global player. It’s remarkable what they’ve done.”