The Palm Beach home of venerable Green’s Pharmacy and its popular lunch counter — and the business itself — have quietly changed hands along with the building next door, which is home to Amici Market, courthouse records show.
Operating since 1938, Green’s is perhaps most famous as the spot where President John F. Kennedy sipped milkshakes as a boy, although he did that in the former location across the street from the current address at 151 N. County Road. The Green family moved the pharmacy and lunch counter there in 1965 but stepped away from the ownership in the 1980s. The business has remained a popular spot with locals, visitors and even celebrities for breakfast and lunch.
The new owners of the buildings at 151 and 155 N. County Road — and of the Green’s Pharmacy and Luncheonette business — are commercial real estate investors Spencer Schlager and Charles Rosenberg of CS Ventures, a brief statement to the Palm Beach Daily News confirmed. Schlager and Rosenberg, whose affiliated companies own other commercial buildings in Palm Beach and West Palm Beach, declined further comment about the purchases.
But people familiar with the transactions say there are no plans to change operations at the Green’s building, where the luncheonette is closed temporarily while a new roof is being installed and kitchen repairs are underway. The pharmacy remains open.
The lease for Amici Market, which sells hot food and grocery items, also remains in effect. The buildings front North County Road between Sunrise Avenue and Grace Trail.
Because of the way the deals were structured, no purchase price for the two buildings was recorded at the Palm Beach County Courthouse, where a pair of deeds for the transactions were recorded May 9.
The building that houses Green’s has 4,811 square feet and stands on about a fifth of an acre. The building next door is larger, with 6,308 square feet but the lot is smaller. Both back up to a parking lot of about an acre owned by the Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach to serve churchgoers to the Basilica of St. Edward on the other side of North County Road. The lot also is used by customers of Green’s and Amici Market.
The new owners acquired the buildings and the Green’s business from companies managed by businessman and real estate investor Charles Rosner. Rosner signed the deeds of sale as manager of 151 County Road Realty LLC, which owned the Green’s building, and CED Realty LLC, the owner of the building immediately to the north at 155 N. County Road. Both of the selling entities are listed on the deeds with an address on Town Center Road in Boca Raton.
An attorney for Rosner declined to comment on the sale.
Broker Lawrence Moens of Lawrence A. Moens Associates handled both sides of the off-market sale, his office confirmed. He could not be reached for comment.
Allen Rutman, Rosner’s nephew, has been intimately involved with running Green’s, directing the day-to-day business and representing Green’s in any business with the town. State records also link Frances Rosner and Gerald Simon to entities involved over the years with the ownership of the two buildings.
Those who passed by Green’s in recent days have seen a bustle of construction activity as the roof is replaced, according to town permits. Inside Green’s, crews worked to remove and replace a ventilation hood. Another permit was requested May 1 to perform masonry work and repair stucco, replace “deteriorated” doors and windows, replace an aging electrical panel, and update some interior finishes and fixtures, including in the bathroom.
Charles Rosner is associated with Rensor Realty Corp., which bought the Green’s building for $455,000 in 1987 from the late Dr. Robert “Bob” Green — whose late father Murray co-founded the business — and his wife, Elizabeth, property records show.
A few months ago, ownership was transferred to the company that just sold the Green’s building, courthouse records show.
Rosner’s CED Realty paid $1.7 million for the building next door in 2014, records show.
Schlager and Rosenberg both have longtime family ties to Palm Beach, where Schlager is a real estate agent and has a home. Rosenberg lives in New York City. Their joint venture began investing in commercial real estate in Palm Beach in early 2020.
In addition to being one of the few drug stores in Palm Beach, Green’s and its luncheonette over the decades has been a destination for celebrities who made it their go-to hangout when they visited the island. Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Buffett, Rod Stewart and George Hamilton were known to stop in.
Celebrities still make appearances, but typically, the breakfast-and-lunch crowd comprises residents, town workers, tourists and beach-goers who fill the tables and counter stools to order eggs, oatmeal, soups, sandwiches, salads, burgers, milkshakes and daily specials.
In 2020, the luncheonette underwent its first major décor change in years with the installation of a new black-and-white checkerboard lunch counter, new counter tools with seat backs, and a new black-and-white vinyl-tile floor.
The business is one of the longest-enduring legacy businesses in Palm Beach, historical consultant Janet Murphy told the town’s Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2024, when officials weighed whether or not to designate the Green’s building as a town landmark. The board ultimately voted against endorsing the designation.
Brothers Morris “Murray” and Robert “Bob” Green opened Green’s Pharmacy at 126 N. County Road in late 1937, with a formal opening held in January 1938. That building was initially leased to Green’s Pharmacy, whose owners were operating drug stores in Long Island, New York.
Over the next 48 years, the Green brothers grew their business. By the 1960s, they had outgrown their leased space, Murphy told the landmarks board. In 1965, they purchased property on the northeast corner of North County Road and Sunrise Avenue and built the current structure.
Other buildings owned by CS Ventures
CS Venture’s other commercial purchases in Palm Beach included a deal recorded in September for $30.255 million for a retail building addressed as 237-243 Worth Ave. near Hibiscus Avenue.
Companies controlled by the joint venture own Palm Beach commercial buildings in Midtown at 324, 340, 350 and 440 Royal Palm Way along with a landmarked retail-and-office building at 214 Brazilian Ave. They also own a block-long commercial building near Worth Avenue at 375 S. County Road, which is home to BrickTop’s restaurant, among other tenants.
In January 2024, an affiliate of The Breakers resort paid CS Ventures a recorded $11.5 million for a mixed-use building with retail storefronts and apartments at 249, 251 and 253 Royal Poinciana Way.
CS Ventures also owns a building at 500 S. Australian Ave. in West Palm Beach. In all, the joint venture owns about 300,000 square feet of commercial space, Schlager previously told the Palm Beach Daily News.
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Previous reporting by writer M.M. Cloutier and staff writer Jodie Wagner contributed to this story.
This is a developing story. Check back for any updates.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Building that houses Green’s, Palm Beach diner favored by JFK, Jimmy Buffett, changes hands
Reporting by Darrell Hofheinz and Kristina Webb, Palm Beach Daily News / Palm Beach Daily News
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