Elliman agents decamp to head new Nest Seekers office in Bridgehampton

A high-profile Hamptons broker team lead by Laura Nigro has decamped for Nest Seekers International, following nearly a decade with Douglas Elliman’s Bridgehampton and Southampton offices, The Real Deal has learned. The team, consisting of Nigro, her brother Carl Nigro, and his wife Lucie Safonov, will open a new Nest Seekers office in Bridgehampton, Nigro said.

The new outpost is set to open in March, and although the family trio are the only brokers slated to join the office so far, Nigro said there will be room for 10 to 12 desks. She said she plans to “populate slowly,” hiring agents who get along well with the growing team. “We will be particular,” Nigro said.

The new branch joins Nest Seekers’ three other Hamptons offices — in Water Mill, Southampton and Easthampton—and marks the first time the firm has opened an East End office from scratch, rather than through an acquisition. The Bridgehampton office will be located at 2397 Montauk Highway.

Nigro said the primary reason for the move was a desire to be with a smaller, more “nimble” firm in an uncertain economic climate.

“Sometimes larger firms can’t change quickly and they lose market share,” Nigro said. “We decided to switch because I think the market dynamics will continue to change, the dollar will depreciate,” and international buyers will continue to proliferate. Nest Seekers, founded by Eddie Shapiro in 2002, was “uniquely positioned for the international client base” that makes up an increasingly large portion of the biggest spenders in the Hamptons, she said.

Nigro will hold the title of executive vice president of the new office; her brother and sister-in-law will be senior vice presidents.

Among Nigro’s listings are two Southampton Village homes: a 10-bedroom mansion at 40 Meadow Lane, priced at $13 million, and a six-bedroom home at 224 Great Plains Road, being marketed for $10 million, she told The Real Deal.

Nigro also has a $32 million listing at 980 Meadow Lane, according to Streeteasy.com, but she declined to comment on the four-bedroom home, citing a confidentiality agreement.

Douglas Elliman declined to comment.

In 2010, Nigro was marketing super broker Dolly Lenz’s $6 million Southampton home, although Tim Davis of the Corcoran Group later took on the listing. Nigro declined to discuss the switch, though she said that she and Lenz, a former Elliman colleague, remain on good terms.

Before they worked with Elliman, Nigro and her brother worked with Dunemere, which was bought by Brown Harris Stevens in 2004.