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Douglas Elliman’s newest Boston-area office opened this morning in Wellesley, headlined by a pair of well-known figures from the MetroWest real estate scene.

Elaine Bannigan and her eight-agent Pinnacle Group, formerly the independent brokerage Pinnacle Residential Properties, and the five-agent Joni Shore Group, formerly of Coldwell Banker, are providing the bulk of the 40 Central St. office’s 16 agents.

Bannigan is 38-year veteran of the real estate industry, a housing market commentator and ran her brokerage for 20 years in the luxury-heavy MetroWest market, training many of the area’s agents along the way. Joni Shore is a 36-year industry veteran and a longtime presence in the MetroWest market, as well.

“Pinnacle could have gone anywhere. We were one of the few independents left, and one of the most successful ones,” Bannigan told Banker & Tradesman. “We had a lot of people courting us, so to speak. When we looked at our options, we thought that Elliman’s reputation and resources and its local management team – which was important to us – was excellent.”

Despite Elliman’s size, Bannigan said she and her agents, who were also involved in the decision to join the New York-based brokerage, felt its “supportive” culture was the right fit.

Joni Shore, whose team includes her son Jon and three other agents and focuses on MetroWest, Brookline and Cape Cod, described her decision to affiliate with the brokerage in a statement provided by Elliman as driven by “the powerhouse firm’s first-class resources in public relations, technology and marketing.”

“We could not be more thrilled to further expand our presence in Massachusetts,” Elliman CEO Scott Durkin said in a statement. “Wellesley is an important market for us as our agents continuously help clients buy and sell properties throughout the Greater Boston area. We look forward to sharing in the future success of The Joni Shore Group.”

Elliman’s fourth office in Massachusetts joins two in downtown Boston and one on Nantucket.