Olivia Dunne's bid for Babe Ruth's apartment halted by phone call

Olivia Dunne was just days away from picking up the keys to her new apartment when her phone rang.

The American influencer and former star gymnast had told friends and family she would soon be the new owner of a pad on the city’s affluent Upper West Side.

It wasn’t just any apartment. It was once owned by US sporting great Babe Ruth.

Ruth, a champion pitcher with US baseball team, the New York Yankees, was a hero of the game who hit 659 home runs and led his team to seven World Series wins.

Known affectionately as The Bambino, Ruth lived with his family on the 7th floor of 345 West 88th Street between 1929 and 1940.

A few months ago, Dunne and her boyfriend, Paul Skenes, a pitcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates, had inspected the apartment, and decided to make a cash offer.  

“I was going to buy it and I was going to pay with cash,” the 22-year-old former Louisiana State University student said in a TikTok video to her eight million followers. 

“I wanted this apartment bad.”

Dunne reportedly made US$9.5 million ($14.5 million) through the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s “name, image and likeness” rules.

The rules allow university athletes in the US to profile from their personal brand while remaining at an amateur level.

Dunne even hired an interior designer as she didn’t want to bring furniture from her dorm to Ruth’s apartment.

“That would be criminal,” she added.

She then shared that the real estate agent was confident she’d be successful with taking the keys to the apartment. Then, Dunne received a phone call.

“Then the week I was meant to get my keys to my brand new apartment, I get a call, the co-op board denied me,” she shared.

“So pretty much the people in the building voted to not have me live there which is fine,” Dunne continued.

Ruth’s former three bedroom apartment is listed for sale for US$1,595,000 ($2.4 million).

“Currently configured with two bedrooms, this residence offers a wealth of storage, handsome built-ins, and an exceptionally spacious layout that can easily accommodate the addition of a third bedroom,” the listing with Compass reads.

“This pet-friendly cooperative offers part-time doorman service, a live-in superintendent, laundry, and a community room with a lending library and ping pong table.

“Storage and bike storage are available for an additional fee. Subletting, pieds-à-terre, co-purchasing, guarantors and 80 per cent financing are permitted with board approval.”

Despite understanding the co-op’s decision, Dunne couldn’t help but share her disappointment.

“Maybe they didn’t want a public figure living there but I was literally supposed to get the keys and that week they denied me,” she told her followers.

“It was just iconic, it was so cool that it was Babe Ruth’s apartment. But long story short, don’t try and live in a co-op, you might get denied and you won’t get Babe Ruth’s apartment.”

In New York City, co-op boards are a governing body of residents who decide on the management and financial affairs of an apartment building.

They can approve or reject potential buyers. They are not necessarily required to provide reasons for denying an application.