In the course of the Pico dos Dias survey (PDS), we identified the stellar-like object PDS 456 at coordinates α= 17 h 28 m 19 &fs; 796, δ=-14 15 &arcmin; 55 &farcs; 87 (epoch 2000), with a relatively nearby (z= 0.184) and bright (B= 14.69) quasar. Its position at Galactic coordinates l= 10 &fdg; 4, b=+ 11 &fdg; 2, near the bulge of the Galaxy, may explain why it was not detected before. The optical spectrum of PDS 456 is typical of a luminous quasar, showing a broad (FWHM∼ 4000 km s-1) H β line, very intense Fe II lines, and a weak [O III] λ 5007 line. PDS 456 is associated to the infrared source IRAS 17254-1413 with a 60 μ m infrared luminosity L 60= 3.8× 10 45 ergs s-1. The relatively flat slopes in the infrared [α (25, 60)=-0.33 and α (12, 25)=-0.78] and a flat power index in the optical (F ν∝ ν-0.72) may indicate a low dust content. A good match between the position of PDS 456 and the position of the X-ray source RXS J172819. 3-141600 implies an X-ray luminosity L X= 2.8× 10 44 ergs s-1. The good correlation between the strength of the emission lines in the optical and the X-ray luminosity, as well as the steep optical to X-ray index estimated (α OX=-1.64), suggests that PDS 456 is radio quiet. A radio survey previously performed in this region yields an upper limit for radio power at about 5 GHz of approximately 2.6× 10 30 ergs-1 Hz-1. We estimate the Galactic reddening in this line of sight to be A B ≃ 2.0, implying an absolute magnitude M B=-26.7 (using H 0= 75 km s-1 Mpc-1 and q 0= 0). In the optical, PDS 456 is therefore 1.3 times more luminous than 3C 273 and the most luminous quasar in the nearby (z≤ 0.3) universe.