A New York City penthouse that once housed baseball great Mike Piazza has found a new owner, the property's listing agent told Homes.com in an exclusive.
The buyer is a Boston entrepreneur with two children in college who plans to use the unit at 117 E. 18th St. as a second home, said listing agent Ian Slater of Compass. The entrepreneur purchased the penthouse in part because he liked its wood-burning fireplace and the den, Slater said.
"He loves the idea of having a den office," he told Homes.com. "The previous owner used it as a man cave, and it looks like the new buyer is going to do the same."
Slater said the house is under contract and will likely close in two weeks. The 2,715-square-foot unit features three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The first floor has a fireplace, an under-the-stairs coat closet, a kitchen with marble countertops, two bedrooms, and one bathroom. The second floor has the main bedroom, the second bathroom, and a terrace.
Public records show Piazza bought the penthouse in March 2001, selling it three years later in December 2004.
Piazza played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball as a catcher — mostly for the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets. He holds the league's record at 396 for most home runs by a catcher. Piazza won MLB Rookie of the Year in 1993 and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016.
Piazza sold the penthouse to its current owners, Slater said. The current owners are selling it because they need to move further north in Manhattan to be closer to their children's school, he added.
Buyer attracted to small building
The unit is located at the Ram, a six-story condominium building built in 1930 in Manhattan's Gramercy Park neighborhood. The neighborhood is home to Pete's Tavern — New York City's oldest continuously operating restaurant, which opened in 1864.
The buyer, who is paying slightly under the property's $4.9 million asking price, liked that the Ram is "a very small building" and that it's centrally located between the Gramercy, Union Square and East Village neighborhoods, Slater said.
The building has five units, according to Apartments.com, a sister company of Homes.com.
Annual property taxes on the unit are roughly $49,150, according to the Compass listing, along with $2,152 a month in common charges.
Piazza's former home is on the verge of sale just as prices of condominium units and co-ops in Manhattan are climbing. The median sales price for a condominium or co-op in the borough grew 3% to $1.24 million in the second quarter of 2025, according to market data from The Corcoran Group.
